SOS
by Psycotaco
Summary: Konoha has an unexpected visitor one night as a Jedi has a crash landing behind the hokage tower. How will the Jedi and the Ninjas react to each other? Takes place after KoTOR II with a light side male exile. HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

**S.O.S**

**I noticed that there were practically no Star Wars/Naruto crossovers here, so here is my first attempt at a fanfiction.**

**This takes place after the events of Knights of the Old Republic II, when the exile, a light side male in this case, went off into the unknown regions after destroying what was left of Malachor V.**

The sky was beautiful that night. The stars, those far away globes of fire, glinted and winked mystically, surrounding a bright yellow moon, so bright and clear you could count the craters on it. This was

the third night in a row that the sky looked so promising, and Konoha was at peace. The village, if you could call such a large place a village, was teeming with life, its citizens moving back and forth as

the vendors and merchants locked doors and closed shutters, looking forward to turning in for the night. Much farther down the street, in a large red building, the hokage slept in her chair, the light blush

across her face a sure sign of her chronic drinking problem. Behind the building and up a hill, two young boys lay in the tall grass, enjoying its cool feeling. One of them, however, was slightly annoyed.

_"What is he even doing here? This is supposed to be one of my favorite spots! I'm supposed to be the only one who knows about a great place like this!"_

The boy, Nara Shikamaru, looked over at his friend, and scowled.

_"What annoys me more, though, is that he's so quiet. He's never like this, not any time I know of, anyway. Damn. Just when you think you know a guy…"_ He let out a sigh.

The other boy also let out a sigh, enjoying the cool air.

"Oi, Shikamaru…"

"What?"

"Do you…do you ever wonder what goes on up there? In the sky?"

Shikamaru was a little shocked at this, clearly shown by his blank look.

_"What the hell? Now he's philosophizing?"_

He grunted. "What the hell are you talking about, Naruto?"

The boy, Naruto, stretched out and sat up. "I mean, is there anyone out there? Like us?"

"Why are you asking me? I wouldn't know."

"Come on, dattebayo! You spend so much time looking at the sky, there's no way you can't think of these things! Not even a…"

"Not even a what?" When Naruto didn't answer Shikamaru opened his eyes to look at him.

Naruto was as still as a statue. His eyes focused on something in the sky and his face resembling something of a fish, mouth open and eyes wide. He remained silent.

"What?" Shikamaru looked in the direction of Naruto's eyes. He squinted and made out a small speck that was growing larger at a frighteningly fast rate. The back seemed as if it were on fire, leaving a trail of smoke, distinct against the stars. Wherever it was going, it was going there fast. That's when Shikamaru realized where the thing was headed. Toward them.

"Oi…Oi, Naruto! Get out of the way!"

They cut it close as they managed to frantically dive out of the way of the hurtling object. It made contact with the hill and the ground shook with the impact. It bounced and finally slid to a halt, leaving a large, smoldering scar in the earth. The boys simply stood there, too shocked to move or speak. Whatever the thing was, it was made of metal, welded on like armor and was colored orange and silver. It was about the size of the average home, and there was a great gash down the center of it, revealing it's insides.

"Hey! You two! What're you two doin'?" A large group of people were making their way up the hill to investigate

"What happened?"

"Was it an attack?"

"It was on fire! It crashed into the hill!"

"Quick! Someone call for some help! There're people inside!"

"Oi…Naruto…"

Naruto broke away from his trance-like state and looked up.

"Kakasi-sensei!"

Kakashi looked as cool and composed as usual, his trusty Icha Icha Paradise held comfortably in his hand.

"Kakashi-Sensei! You wouldn't believe it! Shikamaru and me, we were sitting on this hill, see? And suddenly this thing came and crashed into the hill, dattebayo! We were really confused and people came running and-"

Kakashi sighed and put away his book. "Shikamaru, you better go tell Tsunade-sama about this. Naruto, we should go investigate. I heard talk about people being inside that thing. They could be hurt, or worse."

As Kakashi and Naruto ran off toward the wreckage, Shikamaru scowled and let out a groan. "To think I just wanted to relax on my favorite hillside spot for twenty measly minutes…this is getting more troublesome by the second." He dashed off toward the hokage tower.

An hour later, Tsunade and her aide, Shizune, sat in the Hokage's round office, perplexed. According to the report Tsunade was holding, the wreckage appeared to be some sort of vehicle, at first guess. The closest thing they could compare it to was a ship, seeing that it had bunks and a cargo hold and all. There were two people inside of the wreckage, both unconscious, and a number of machines. One of the unconscious was human. The other looked human, with the exception of a hard light yellow skin and a series of horns protruding around the top of his head.

One of those machines sat in front of them now. From what they could see, it was small, about the size of the chair beside it, was grey, had some sort of lens on the front of it's "head", and assumingly moved on it's four wheels.

"My head hurts, my leg aches, and the moment I get a bit of sleep someone walks in here with a report of a giant metal…something crashing into a hillside and then they dump this thing here for me to stare at for a couple of hours. "

"Ts-Tsunade-sama, please. This is for the sake of the village. Whatever that thing was, it will obviously have a big impact on events to come…and we can't get any answers until those two wake up."

"Well, there's no use complaining, I suppose." Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk to the object. "It's obviously some sort of machine, so supposedly, there's an on switch."

She ran her hand along the underside of the "head", and then down the front. She felt her hand hit something, like a button or a switch, and the machine hummed to life.

"De…Deet?"

"It beeped!" Shizune seemed delighted. Tsunade only pulled her hand back and watched. The machine looked up at the two women and adjusted it's lens.

"Dereet! DEEET!"

The machine moved back at an alarming rate and hit the door to the office. "Deet! De de-dereet!"

"Wait! It's alright, we won't hurt you, we're just curious."

The machine seemed to calm down. It's head and lens stopped their erratic movements, and the random beeping stopped.

Tsunade soon composed herself from the shock of having a previously assumed broken piece of scrap metal jump to life in her own office. "Well." She cleared her throat. "We got it…uh, working, but we still don't know what it is. Or does."

"Ber-eet? Bip deet?"

The two women just looked at the machine incredulously. It was obviously expecting something.

It gave up, and instead of staring at the two, it looked around the room. It seemed to have found what it was looking for.

"Dip beep derereet!" It moved past the Tsunade, who jumped back at the sudden movement, and toward a chest behind her desk.

"What is it doing?" The question was answered as a small door opened in its front, and a small mechanical arm with a needle attached to the end was inserted into the lock.

Tsunade jumped back up. "Wait! That's-" but it was too late. The machine withdrew the arm and the lid popped open. Inside was a whole mess of used sake bottles, food wrappers, and horse betting tickets (all of which, of course, were losers). Shizune gave her a look.

Tsunade calmly walked over to the chest and shut the lid, ignoring the evidence of her slacking off as if it weren't there, and closed the lid.

She cleared her throat. "Well, now we at least know one of its capabilities. Let's try to move on, shall we?" She was obviously trying to change the subject to avoid questions.

But before Shizune could begin an interrogation, a knock was heard on the door. It opened, and a nurse poked her head in.

"Ano…Tsunade-sama? One of the strangers has woken up. You should come quickly."

Tsunade and Shizune looked at each other, and were out of the door. The machine followed and stopped to politely beep to the nurse before trailing the two women. The nurse simply stared.


	2. Chapter 2

SOS

Chapter II

**A/N: Well, I have a feeling that the second installment of this story wasn't as good as the first. I think I blew it on HK's big debut in Konoha, but it will get better, I promise. Anyway, I forgot to mention that this takes place after Naruto's training trip.**

**P.S I'll probably continue this if I get enough reviews. It won't take that many, though.**

"Ugh…what…?"

Wedge Rodius groggily opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the bright light which seemingly glared directly at him. He shut his eyes again and pulled the sheets over his head.

_"Wait…sheets?"_

He opened his eyes again, this time enduring the light, which eventually subsided and let him examine his surroundings, even if they were a bit blurry.

_"Where am I? A bedroom? No, it's too…clean. A hospital, maybe?"_

He blinked twice before trying to sit up. His head effectively persuaded him otherwise with a pounding headache.

_"Damn…"_

Once again he pulled the sheets over his head and shut his eyes. The first question could wait, he had more important things to worry about.

Like: What the hell just happened?

_"What happened? What the hell happened? Let's see. First thing I remember…Bao-Dur, that's right, he was shouting something...what was it? Something about the blue wire…right? What were we doing? We were fixing the navicomputer, weren't we? Yeah, yeah, that's right, he was fixing the monitor, and I had to manually put it in sleep mode. Blue wire? What was he shouting?_

Suddenly it came to him. He painfully remembered what Bao-Dur had been desperately trying to say:

"No, General, not the blue one, the red one. Pull the red one. No, the _red_ one. The RED WIRE, General, RED! No, stop! You're pulling the blue one, STOP! DON'T-"

Unfortunately, Wedge couldn't hear what Bao-Dur said next because the alarm decided to go off.

Under the covers once again, he dragged his hand across his face.

_"Dammit, Jedi aren't supposed to know how to fix machines! What was he thinking, trusting me with a job like that? Damn. Things are happening way too fast. What happened to everybody?"_

He began to run over recent events in his head.

_"Lessee…Atton? He went off with Handmaiden (a.k.a Brianna) to rebuild the Jedi Order in that academy on Telos, didn't he? Yeah, and I think Visas went as well. Okay…Mira left when we dropped her off at Nar Shaada. Why would she want to stay in a cesspool like that? Anyway, Mandalore got off at Telos, too, and caught a shuttle to Onderon. I guess he made it to Dxun from there. Bao-Dur and the droids had nowhere to go, so they stayed with me on the Ebon Hawk. After that we go into the unknown regions and end up here." _

He sighed. It had been a long journey, from Peragus II all the way up to the Trayus Academy on Malachor V. And even after that it still wasn't over. Kreia had told him about the so-called "true Sith" in the unknown regions, but where the hell would he start? Not to mention Admiral Onasi all but begging him to go after Revan. Hadn't he done enough?

Just then he heard the door open and close, so he revealed himself from hiding beneath the sheets. The first thing he saw was a girl in a nurse's uniform looking down at him with these irresistibly concerned eyes. Past her was a blonde, rather busty lady and a cute woman with short black hair holding a pig.

_"Well, pig aside, things are finally looking up." _He thought as he hid his smirk.

Naruto sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, staring at the spectacle before him. He had no idea what the thing was, what it did, only where it came from; that stupid wreck.

_"You can handle it yourself,"_ he mocked/grumbled, _"think of it as part of your training._ Stupid Kakashi-Sensei. How can this possibly be called training, dattebayo? This isn't part of being a ninja!"

In front of him stood, slouched over, what looked like (but obviously wasn't) a 7-foot tall man completely covered in reddish-brown armor. Abandoned by his teacher, Naruto was left with the task of gaining information from the thing. Problem was, he had no idea where to start. Hell, he didn't even know what it was.

He got up and walked toward the giant "man". He lifted the head and looked under the chin. Then he lifted the arms, then he checked the back. On the back he found a small door which opened to reveal what looked, to Naruto, faintly like red and blue ramen noodles.

"Intimidation: Step away from my circuitry…meatbag."

Naruto yelped and jumped from the machine. The eyes were now lit with a dim red light, and it reached around with one of it's massive arms to close the compartment.

"It…it spoke!"

The machine straightened itself up, "Statement: Of course I spoke, meatbag. I fine protocol droid I would make if I did not speak. And I assure you, I am a fine protocol droid, indeed."

"Pro…protocol? What are you talking about, dattebayo? What are you?" Naruto had backed up against the wall, waving a kunai at the droid.

"Mocking query: Had I not just explained to you what I am through my last explanation, meatbag? Perhaps I had gone too fast for one such as you. I shall repeat myself. Statement: I am protocol droid HK-47, fluent in over a thousand different languages and extremely proficient in negotiation and assassination procedures. Query: And you are…?"

"Assassination? You're an assassin? What's a droid?"

"Definition: A droid is an mechanical automation built with advanced artificial intelligence and motor capabilities to aid and carry out the orders of organic meatbags, such as yourself. Statement: I, however, seem to have suffered damage to my behavior core, due to the fact that instead of having blasted you already and set off to find my master, I am wasting my time explaining something that you obviously cannot comprehend."

Naruto, while annoyed, had to agree. He hadn't understood a single phrase the droid had said. At that moment however, Naruto remembered his purpose of even being there in the first place. He tried to compose himself.

"Look, uh…droid. I need to ask you some questions."

"Excited statement: Ah, an interrogation! It seems my first impression of you was incorrect, meatbag. Very well. You may proceed."

"It's not an interrogation. I just want to ask a few things, dattebayo!"

"Disappointed Observation: Meatbag, you continue to disappoint my programming. You seem to harbor an ethical problem that urgently needs to be addressed. Ask, if you must."

"Um…where are you from?"

The droid straightened itself even further and thrust it's "chin" high in a proud manner. "Declaration: I am far too important and essential to galactic politics for me to even discuss such a manner with the likes of you, meatbag, as such a thing is highly classified. I'll have you know that my actions have changed the course of history by carrying the more influential meatbags to the highest of positions."

"How?"

"Explanation: By eliminating their opponents of course. How else would one succeed in a political career? Mocking query: But of course, you wouldn't know something of that sort, would you…meatbag."

Naruto, while missing most of what HK-47 had said, did manage to catch the word "meatbag" and several questions of his intelligence.

"Stop saying meatbag, dattebayo, and how would a piece of junk like you know anything about politics! You just kill anything that moves, don't you?"

"Exasperated Statement: Of course. Politics is not a fair game, you know. But as much as I'd 'love' to stay and discuss such things, I must find my master."

"Wait! I have more questions!"

"Statement: I am sorry, meatbag. Right now, it is of the utmost importance I find my master. And I assure you, the priority it holds is much greater than that if I stay and uselessly explained my functionalities with you."

"But these questions are important! It's my mission, dattebayo!"

"Appeasment: Yes, meatbag. Of course…now where would my master be located?"

Naruto sighed and gave in, "Fourth door…on the left."

As the large metal man clanked off in the specified direction, Naruto slumped against the wall. The "training" had been an utter failure. In the course of about two hours, he had been attacked by a UFO, dragged two bodies from a burning wreck, had been abandoned by his teacher and been insulted probably in more ways than he could figure out by a giant man with an inflated attitude, and he could tell the night was far from over.


	3. Chapter 3

SOS Chapter III

**Well, I tried to make this chapter a little longer, so tell me what you think. Next chapter's gonna cover the initial interaction between ninja and Jedi (and Iridonian...and droid, I guess).  
**

**Extra Credit to anyone who can find the quotes from the games throughout this fanfic.  
**

The nurse put her hand on his forehead, never taking that concerned look off her face. "He seems to be alright…"

Wedge grinned. "You're not so bad yourself, gorgeous."

The nurse blushed and quickly pulled away. Shizune seemed a little taken aback while Tsunade just scowled. She positioned herself at the front. "Who are you?"

Wedge scooted back on the bed, positioning himself so that his back was leaning against the headboard, sitting up. He chuckled a little. "I guess there's no harm in saying. Plus, I don't seem to have a choice. My name is Wedge Rodius," he took Tsunade's hand and looked into her eyes, "and you are…?"

"Losing my patience" Tsunade said through gritted teeth. She crushed his hand in hers.

"Ow!" Wedge pulled his hand away. "Claws are out tonight, I see…"

Tsunade held no regrets. It had been a long night, and she wasn't about to let some wiseass make it any more tedious. "Where are you from?"

Wedge ran his hand through his hair. He chuckled again (which caused a twitching in Tsunade's eyebrow). "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. And I'm being serious here." He looked at the three women, "Don't tell me you've never seen a spacecraft before…"

"A spacecraft?"

He sighed. They weren't called the Unknown Regions for nothing, and he still had a lot to do.

"How did you get here?"

"Look, it's not like being interrogated by a busty older woman isn't one of my fantasies or anything but-"

Tsunade's fist found his cheek, and connected. Hard.

"WHO'S _OLD?"_

For the next two minutes, everyone was too busy either trying to revive a knocked out Wedge or restraining a ferociously provoked Tsunade that nobody heard the banging on the door.

Until the door was practically blown off it's hinges and a 7-foot tall orange man stood in its place, that is.

"What the…"

"HK?"

"No…not another one…"

HK stepped into the room, surveying its surroundings.

"Excited Exclamation: Master! Oh, you have no idea how confused my programming was becoming over you…"

"Gee…thanks." Wedge tried his best to sound grateful, besides the fact that the worry was coming from a homicidal droid. As far as he could tell, the only reason HK was worried was because he had almost lost the chance to kill Wedge himself.

Tsunade composed herself. "And _who _is_ this?_" She asked, pointing at HK-47.

"He's, uh…well, he's my droid…" Wedge replied, sheepishly.

Tsunade grabbed Wedge by the neck and throttled him. Through gritted teeth she seethed, _"If you don't explain exactly what is going on, so help me, you will find yourself an early visit six feet under!"_

"Intimidation: Let go off my master, meatbag, unless you wish to find a particle laser burning a hole through your stomach."

"'MEATBAG'?"

"Statement: Very well, seeing as you refuse to let go of my master, I have no choice but to proceed with my last statement, as my programming commands me to do so." HK raised his hands as if he were holding his trusty blaster rifle, "Unnecessary Statement: Prepare to eat smoldering carnage, meatbag."

HK started twitching his right index finger. Nothing happened. He tried it again. Again, nothing happened. Uncertainly, he looked down at his hands and gasped.

"Panicked query: Master, where….where is my blaster rifle? Without my blaster rifle, I am…I am…"

His quivering voice was cut short as Tsunade lunged forward, pulled her arm back, and sent a hell-bent uppercut under HK's chin. The impact took HK's head right off and rolling to the other side of the room.

"You just killed my droid!"

"_YOU WANT SOME, TOO?"_

In all her rage, Tsunade didn't even notice Shizune grabbing her from behind and sticking a hypodermic needle into her neck. She collapsed.

"I'm so sorry about that, sir. It's been a long night for all of us, so I'm sure you'd be able to understand."

Wedge rubbed his neck where Tsunade's death grip had been just a minute ago. "Heh…yeah, sure…"

"Thank you so much. I'm sure the rest of the questions can wait until morning. Or at least until these sedatives wear off."

Shizune and the nurse were about to drag Tsunade out the door when Wedge stopped them. "Wait! What about Bao-Dur? And T3?"

"Deet!"

Everyone jumped. Wedge slowly turned to his right and sitting there, by the bed, was his trusty utility droid.

"T…3?"

"Beep de-reet?"

"How…how long have you been there?"

"…Beep…"

Shizune tried to smile despite her confused and exhausted state. "Well, that explains that…I think. Anyway, sleep well!" And with that the nurse and herself turned off the lights and hurriedly dragged the drugged Hokage from the room, replacing what was left of the door behind them the best they could. Wedge was left alone in the dark, massaging his neck, still wondering what the hell just happened.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun stood directly above them as they stood by the wreckage of the Ebon Hawk. Tsunade and Shizune stood back while Wedge, Bao-Dur and T3 made their way through the torn and twisted pieces of metal.

"It's no good, General. Without Republic-grade parts there's nothing we can do. The ship's scrap. It's gone…"

Wedge made his way over to his friend, who was almost in tears. He really didn't know what to say. The Ebon Hawk had been like a home to them. Even T3 seemed depressed (which was understandable since Wedge distinctly remembered how fondly the droid worked on the engines). He had to try and cheer them up, no matter how lame the attempt may be.

"Hey, look on the bright side, will ya? I mean, look at what was salvaged. The workbench was nearly untouched, just a few bangs and dents. You got your hand back, right? That's a blessing, right there." Bao-Dur raised his mechanical hand and flexed it. Wedge was right. It was a miracle that they found the thing in such a wreck intact. "Uh…our comlinks work, and we found a few blank datapads. Um…what else? Half a hyperspace engine…"

Bau-Dur laughed lightly. "Thanks, General. Maybe you're right. Despite the fact that we're stranded, it can't be all bad," he looked at Wedge, "can it?"

Wedge sighed and sat on a large piece of metal jutting out of the ground, which was probably a broken plasteel cylinder. He started playing with the sleeve of his Jedi robe, a nervous habit he had developed. He was very fond of his robes. They were the type worn by the Jedi Masters who kept the Great Library on the planet Ossus. These particular robes had been a gift from Talia, Queen of Onderon, after Wedge and company had helped to quell a civil war that was quickly ravaging the capital city of Iziz.

He let go of the reddish brown fabric and looked around. "I really don't know. The Unknown Regions are called just that because no-one's willing to risk going into that endless void. Planet's are far apart and few between, so even if we do somehow get this thing moving again," he patted a piece of the shattered hull, "there's no guarantee that it'll hold until we can make it to a spaceport."

It was at that moment that Tsunade and Shizune picked their way through the wreckage toward the two space travelers.

Wedge stood up. "I suppose we really owe you two an explanation…"

"Seeing as you came screaming through the night sky and tore up a popular hillside, yes, I suppose you do." Tsunade said as she brushed a bit of dust from her clothes.

"Well then," said Bao-Dur, as he stepped forward, "I suppose we start at the beginning…"

It took the two of them the better part of the hour just to begin the tale. Up until the sun hung low in the sky, Bao-Dur and Wedge told them the story of their journey, all the way up until they had left known space. The telling took such a long time because they had to stop to explain what a "spacecraft" or a "blaster" was. When Wedge tried to explain what a Jedi and the Sith were, Tsunade and Shizune just couldn't understand. Wedge said that he supposed such things couldn't be explained in mere words, and perhaps he would show them some of the principles of the Force sometime.

"But maybe," said Bao-Dur after their story had concluded, "staying on a planet like this wouldn't be so bad after all. I wouldn't mind looking at whatever healed us so quickly after a bad crash like this. By Republic standards, we should've been out for two or three days, at least. You had us up and running in a mere ten hours. Whatever you did, it is revolutionary."

"Not only that," said Wedge, as he took a great breath in, "but here…the Force is very strong. I've never felt anything like it, untouched by Jedi or Sith. I can't even explain it." He took another breath. "I wouldn't be surprised if my connection with the Force was doubled here. Meditation's gonna be interesting, I can tell you that much."

"By what you're saying, I think you two intend on staying for awhile," Tsunade looked at the wreckage around them, "not that you have a choice, or anything. But how do you expect to do that?"

Bao-Dur rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm sure we'd be able to figure something out, we could work it off, maybe?."

Shizune stepped forward. "Well, what can you do?"

Bao-Dur chuckled to himself while Wedge grinned.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't until two days later that Tsunade was able to make all the necessary arrangements. After she had signed the last document she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. She couldn't believe that she was actually going through with this. They could be enemies, sent from the Sound, or they could be spies sent from some other village, to scout out some weakness in Konoha's defenses. But in truth, she really had no choice. Even after two years, Konoha was still recovering from the brutal attack by Orochimaru. The number of ninja, while increasing, was still very low, and she was spending more money than the budget could produce lately. She decided that, for the best of the village, she would take any extra help offered. Satisfied, she looked at the signed document in her hand:

_By Official Decree of the Honorable Hokage Tsunade-Sama:_

_The two candidates for Jounin status, Wedge Rodius and Bao-Dur, shall be _

_Tested to the best of their abilities through a course of trials two days from_

_Today. You are invited to partake in the judging of these two candidates, and _

_Your presence is requested by the Hokage herself._

She sighed as she dropped the invitation to Hyuuga Hiashi into her "out" box. Placing her elbows on the desk, she propped her head up with her hands and stared into space. She had to admit that despite Bao-Dur's ramblings about circuitry and the benefits of electronagativly charged vibroblades, and Wedge's persistent yet pathetic attempts to flirt obnoxiously with any girl he came in close contact with, the pair were still rather intriguing. She sighed again, _"And they've only been here a day and they're already so popular." _she thought to herself.

**Next chapter will reveal how the two strangers interact with the inhabitants of Konoha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More should be up in the next day or two.**


	4. Chapter 4

SOS

Chapter IV

The sun was just about to dip below the horizon as he made his way through the main street of Konohagakure. He eagerly looked around, rubbing his hands together in excitement, and spotted his prey. With the expertise and precision of years of experience, he moved in for the kill…

"Hey, angel, am I dead? 'Cause I must be in heaven."

"Ugh."

Unfazed, he moved on.

"Excuse me, miss. I've lost my phone number. Could I have yours?"

"Creep."

And again, he moves onward.

"Pardon me, but according to the second law of thermodynamics, you're supposed to share your hotness with me."

This last attempt earned him a slap, and a nicely planted handprint left on his cheek. He sighed as he moved to the side of the road and leaned against a street lamp.

"What's the point of having a city with such fine women only to have them ignore you?"

"Well, that just makes them easier research subjects."

Wedge looked over his shoulder to see the speaker. An old man with long, spiky white hair sat with his back toward him at some sort of food stand.

"Whaddya want, Gramps? I'm busy."

"Is that any way to treat your senior?" Asked the old man, as he walked over to stand next to the ex-Jedi. He wore red and green robes, and sported a thick head protector with two stubs that resembled horns. Wedge also took note of the two thin red lines that ran from his eyes down to below his jaw line.

"I've been watching you," said the old man, as he took a bite out of what looked to Wedge like a squid-on-a-stick (which is exactly what it was), "and I see you have potential, if not tenacity. I've also noticed you may be a bit out of practice." He took another bite and chewed thoughtfully.

"I've been away for awhile," Wedge offered. He didn't want to explain again as to why he had been absent from human contact in general for so long.

"I'll bet." The man finished his squid, and straightened up. "Well, seeing as you are so promising," he stretched, "maybe I'll be able to show you a thing or two." He jerked his thumb over to a pair of attractive ladies, probably in their late twenties. "Watch this."

Wedge made no objection as the man walked toward his targets. He thought a little entertainment might alleviate a bit of the sting from his last slap. To his surprise, after the man had said a few words, the two women giggled, and walked off. The old man was rejected, but obviously in a much more graceful manner than Wedge had been.

"For an old geezer, that was pretty good. I'd buy you a drink if I had any money."

The old man laughed. "Well, I should give thanks to my long years of training. Anyway, like I said, you have potential. Got a name?"

"Wedge."

The man frowned. "Wedge? Strange name, but I suppose I've heard worse. But anyhow, it's obvious you are new to this village. Where're ya from?"

Wedge groaned inwardly. The dreaded question had come. Couldn't that big-breasted woman with the blond locks send out a memo, or something? Explaining the whole thing once had been an ordeal (although he and Bao-Dur had left out a few choice details). How many times would he have to do it? He decided to wing it.

"Uh…nowhere important."

"Small farming village, or something? Whatever. You wouldn't happen to be a ninja, would you?"

Here, Wedge found an opportunity to gain information while not seeming to come off as a total idiot. "No, why?"

"Your stance says many things, boy." The man's face and tone suddenly became cryptic, and Wedge found himself listening intently. "You aren't a stranger to combat. That's obvious." He pointed toward Wedge's hands and necks. "I can see many scars here and there on your body. They aren't that deep or visible, but I can see that they've been put there by a blade. Am I right?"

It was true. Wedge had found himself at the less inviting end of a vibroblade many times in his life, even though he didn't like to admit it. Even Jedi make mistakes sometimes.

Wedge stayed silent for a moment before saying, "You know, I never caught your name."

The old man smiled and stood to his full height (and to Wedge's surprise, he was rather tall), and laughed. "Caught your interest, eh?" he laughed again, loudly. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some business to attend to." And with that, the man left.

Wedge didn't stop him. He had a feeling that they would probably be seeing each other soon anyway, not that it was hard to miss a dirty old man with long, spiky white hair. He sighed. It was getting late, and he might as well turn in for the night.

It had only been there for a day, and he already knew the way to his apartment by heart. He really wanted to hurry back and talk with Bao-Dur, since he had spent the whole day looking through the wreckage for anything to salvage. Wedge figured that anything, even a half-spent energy cell, would probably be of use in this situation.

However, Wedge also wanted to spend time just walking. Moving his legs always helped him think, and thinking is exactly what he needed to do as he argued with himself about the events that were about to take place. As a given, he needed money if he was going to get anywhere on this planet (which caused a hefty sigh from him, since traveling to an unknown planet far away from explored space didn't do anything to help him escape his ever-persistent money problems). To get money, he would obviously have to work for it. And as for work, well, a mechanic like Bao-Dur wasn't really in demand, so they would have to utilize their greatest and best-known skill: fighting.

But Wedge had been in a bind like this before. On Telos, he desperately needed transport to the planet surface, and the only way to get it was through a group of well-meaning but very opportunistic Ithorians. They practically forced him to go through a long series of odd-jobs before handing over a shuttle (which, by the way, crashed on its first flight), and if Wedge hated anything, it was being used.

And that was exactly what Wedge invited as he signed that form to take the Jounin exam. If he was still a Jedi, the real fight would be whether or not this whole operation was moral or not. Fighting for money? Jedi's shouldn't be considered mercenaries, after all. But Wedge wasn't a Jedi anymore, and he had no problem with going against his former code (to an extent, that is). Plus, he really had no choice. He had no leads, no contacts, and no knowledge about this place. From what Tsunade had explained, being a ninja was the fastest way around, and if his trust for the ninjas started to thin, then he would have no choice but to jump ship.

He was so engrossed in his inward battle that he very nearly blindsided a girl standing on the corner. He looked up just before he hit, and his reflexes took over by throwing him out of the way and into a group of trash cans on the other side of the narrow alley. He winced as he expected an "Are you okay?" and a series of other questions, and he was in no mood to give an answer. After a moment of silence, he finally got up and looked for the girl he had almost taken out. She hadn't moved from her previous spot, halfway behind a building and watching with interest at something that was occurring further down that road. He couldn't resist. He quietly walked up behind the pink-haired teenager and looked over her head. What he saw was not really what he expected. About forty yards away, a tall boy with a nearly completely orange outfit (save the sleeves, shoulders and headband, which were black) and a shorter woman with long, black hair wearing tan and purple. The girl seemed rather short, but only because her posture could use a bit of an improvement, and looked as if she was struggling to say something. The boy could only smile nervously and scratch his head through his spiky blond hair, and try his best to understand whatever she was saying. Wedge looked down, and noticed that whoever he had joined in with spying started to snigger. Wedge raised an eyebrow.

"Friend of yours?"

The pink-haired girl in the short red dress jumped, and nearly yelped, had not she clamped her hands over her mouth first. She spun around to look at the man in the reddish-brown robes. She checked behind her to make sure the two had not heard or seen anything, then whispered:

"Who are you?"

"Me? Who's asking?"

"Why'd you sneak up on me?"

"Why are you spying on them?"

"I'm not _spying_, just a little…reconnaissance."

"That's called spying. Why?"

The girl checked behind her again before reaching up and grasping the collar of the man's robes and pulled down. As soon as she had him down to eye level, she pointed to the girl with black hair.

"That girl there, see, has a huge crush on that guy she's talking to. Everyone knows it but him. I teamed up with some of my friends to get them to meet by accident and hopefully, she'll be able to say her feelings."

Wedge cocked an eyebrow. Although he didn't have anything against confessions of love, something along these lines was highly cliché where he was from.

He watched for a minute before asking: "What's your name?"

"Huh? Sakura…you?

"Wedge."

Sakura blinked. "Wedge? That's a strange name."

"So I've heard." He pointed to the girl. "Who's she?"

Sakura crouched back down, glad to be back on topic. "Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata. She's had a crush on Naruto there ever since she was eight."

"Eight? Early start, isn't it?"

"Ssh!"

Sakura desperately waved her hand, silencing him. The girl, Hinata, was apparently reaching a climax in her nervous speech. Wedge couldn't make out any words, but he could tell she was about to say something big. That is, until a gigantic white dog came barreling into her. Wedge was stunned.

"What the…"

"Oh, hell."

Following the dog ran another teenager, dressed in a grayish jacket. He said something to Naruto, probably some sort of greeting, and helped Hinata to her feet. Hinata quickly bowed and left with the newcomer.

"Dammit, Kiba, of all the times…"

"Uh, what just happened?"

Sakura shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The operation was a failure. Back to square one."

"Right. I've had enough." Wedge said as he started to get up. He watched Naruto stand there for a moment longer, obviously confused, and then turn around and start to stroll down the street, probably just brushing the whole event off without a clue of what kind of impact it could have had. "Maybe I'll see you around, uh…Sakura. Later."

"Wait! You're not going to help out?"

Wedge gave her a look. "No. It's not my business. If Hinata has something to say that badly, then she'll eventually come out and say it."

Sakura scowled. "And I thought that you were different from the other guys. Looks like you don't care either…"

"Gee." Wedge rolled his eyes. "Sorry to disappoint."

About ten minutes later, Wedge opened the door to the apartment and slumped into the soft, leather sofa.

"Hello, General." Bao-Dur chimed from his usual spot by the dented up workbench. At the moment he was happily using his hydrospanner on something or other, probably from the ship.

"Hey. Find anything useful?"

"Oh, a few things. Overall, that ship probably won't ever fly again, but there was a whole lot of stuff we overlooked. Stuff like this."

Bao-Dur put down the hydrospanner and presented the object with relish. In his hands, he held a lightweight balanced repeating blaster rifle that looked as if it had never seen a crash landing in its entire life. You might as well have just got it from the factory.

"Ha, ha! That's incredible, it looks brand new!" Wedge smiled mischievously. "I can't wait to see you use it in the jounin test. This is gonna be great!" He rubbed his hands together in excitement, and looked at his comrade. The Iridonian had already gone back to work, tinkering with something or other.

"Hey…you shouldn't ignore people like that…"

"I'm sorry General, but we both have to get ready for this 'exam'. I need to make a few adjustments to some things I'll be using. Why don't you go meditate or something?"

Even though Wedge knew the comment was meant to get him to leave, he was just too tired to get annoyed. Meditation sounded great right then. No doubt tomorrow would be a very interesting day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. I made this chap extra long in apology. 5,000 words, a personal best! **

**Enjoy!**

SOS Chapter V

What is a ghost? Is it an emotion suspended in time, a moment of pain that refuses to leave? Or is it a memory imprinted on the mind that will never fade? No. It is nothing so complicated as these. It is but a figment of the imagination that plants itself in the subconciousness and spreads a useless fear, creating nothing but a nuisance.

These were the thoughts of Tetsugawa Reiji, self-proclaimed bandit king. He told himself these things time and time again, but his own mind refused to listen. He had his own "ghosts", as he called them, to face, but he denied that fact to no end.

And yet, for the life of him, he never could find a plausible reason for heading into Hidden Leaf territory, and for the village itself.

His own men didn't care where they went. They were different from the average criminal; they were deadly, precise, extremely skilled, organized, all different except for one thing. They, like common muggers, highwaymen, and murderers, were mindless. All they cared for was money and the thrill of murder and as long as they got either of those, they didn't ask questions.

And Reiji had built himself a fine reputation for murder, pillaging, rape, all sorts of unspeakable acts, and stories of his prestigious career were spoken of in all the lands. He smiled to himself. No one knows why he did such things. He was born the son of the wealthiest man this side of the continent, and from the moment he exited the womb, he was set for life. He wouldn't have to work up a drop of sweat as long as he lived.

Yet, at the age of seven, he stole his first piece of gold, in the process strangling a small guard dog to death.

That thrill, that triumph stayed with Reiji. And it never left. That rush he felt when he went against the laws and the rules was the feeling he coveted most of all. Forget such petty things as "love" and the like. Stealing and murder was all he needed.

But he found his match soon enough. After leaving the Stone Country due to a very large posse that was formed on his behalf, he wandered into Konahagakure. Looking back on it know, he wish he never did. That place was his downfall. That place was where this wretched seed was planted in his mind. No. It wasn't the place. It was one man. A man whose visage Reiji would never forget, nor forgive. A man who Reiji had built an army for, who he would destroy an entire village for, only to flush the coward out and make him watch as Reiji's minions burned and killed.

He took his glove off of his right hand. Where his index and middle finger should have been where nothing but two scarred stumps, the memento his lifelong enemy gave him before he left Konohagakure. Under that, Reiji had carved into his flesh the name of his hated adversary. Hatake Kakashi. Reiji laughed aloud. Yes, he had his own "ghosts", and he would finally accept them for what they are. For the most part they were old grudges that more grew painful every day. But he still laughed. Realizing this would only make his revenge even more satisfying. His laughter resounded amongst the trees, disturbing the serene of the forest.

It was time to move.

T3-M4, utility droid extraordinaire, who could break through the most complicated locks with ease, who could hijack the Republic's flagship like it was nobody's business, who was the trusted companion of two of the greatest Jedi heroes to date, had been ordered to help with laundry.

Now, as a rule, droids do not have feelings. T3 had broken many rules, and was not going to stop now. If it had had pride, it would have been extremely tarnished right now. Instead of pride, the substitute its circuitry had placed for it as its height of standards for itself was sending out single after single of protest against the violation of its "pride".

But an order was an order, and not once had T3 ever thought of going against its benevolent master, Wedge.

But still, it let out a small disappointed hum as its small mechanical arm set the washer dial on "warm".

Behind it, a group of genins pointed and whispered amongst themselves, and whenever T3 would turn around to find some bleach or such, they would stiffen and not say a word. This was another feeling T3 had place upon itself. Annoyance. Its circuitry was now alerting T3 of an error in the outside environment. A small, insignificant, unfixable error, but an error nonetheless

With so much free time, T3 had been attempting to become as human as possible, not because of some never-ending obsession or fascination with humans, but mostly because T3, unlike other models, could think for itself, and had grown bored with the cold non-feeling interior of a droid's "mind". So, being the resourceful little robot that it was, T3 created feelings.

(Note: The makers of T3-M4 quickly discontinued this model, due to rising complaints from buyers as to why their droids began to rebel against them and spoke of such things as "democracies". The final straw was a small droid uprising and a list of demands presented by a group of T3 units to Czerka Corporation. The rebelling was quelled, but not without injuries. The makers, facing lawsuits and a possible shutdown, recalled every model and discontinued production. T3-M4, under whatever circumstances, never made it back to the factory.)

"Oh, T-Threeeee? Where are you, my little metallic friend?"

The call of its master was like music to T3 (for T3 had found that music was a great source of happiness to many humans and humanoid beings). The only thing that could have made him happier was if Bao-Dur had deemed HK-47 as "hopelessly un-repair-able".

Dropping the detergent to floor and spilling the contents, T3 rushed around the wretched washing machines and sped its way down the hall toward Wedge's voice. It rounded the corner and spotted him, as he was checking rooms for any sign of T3.

"Berreet!" T3 had cried out in its joy substitute.

"Ah, T3! I've been looking all over for you! Getting along with everyone?"

"Deet."

"Oh. I see. That bad, huh?"

"Deet deet. Beep de-deet."

"Aw, so what?" Wedge said, patting T3 on the "head". "They're just jealous because they can't hack through eighty layers of computer security software. Now, come on. Apparently, for this test, we need "aides". You're signed up for Bao-Dur. I figured you two would work well together when it really comes down the wire."

"Dwoooo…"

"Quit whining. You're not gonna fight, you're gonna…well, I don't really know. But there's no fighting for you, so don't worry."

"…"

"What?"

"…Beep."

"Who? Mine? I got HK."

"Deet…de-beep."

"Huh? Wait…what are you saying? You're jealous?"

"Deet! De-beep de de-reet…beep doo boop deet."

Wedge smiled at his trusted droid. "Look, I had Bao-Dur place a remote-controlled restraining system on HK as soon as his head was put back on. I know for a fact that sometime during this event, HK's gonna put his finger on the trigger of his blaster rifle, and I, for one, will find it interesting to see if he could withstand 2000 volts of electricity just to fire a single shot."

"Deet."

"Look, stop whining. Thanks to you, we're going to be late. Let's get going."

"Dwooo…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're late." Tsunade said in a cold, monotone voice.

"Heheh, yeah. Sorry, I got a little sidetracked."

"How do you expect to become a decent ninja if you cannot even show up on time?" Tsunade said, tapping her foot. Wedge noticed in the small crowd behind her a tall man with a mask and wild gray hair abruptly look away.

Wedge shrugged. "I dunno."

Tsunade turned around, focusing her attention to a clipboard that was handed to her by Shizune. Wedge raised an eyebrow. Every time he had seen her there was always a clipboard somewhere in her general vicinity. What the hell could she possibly write on so many of those things, even if she was the leader of an entire village.

"Just go join your friend. You've kept him waiting."

"Huh? Oh…right." Wedge rushed past her toward Bao-Dur, his reddish robes catching the sunlight and playing with it as they flapped by.

"You're late." Bao-Dur was sitting on a nearby stump. Checking each satchel on the belts crossing his chest and seeing if the proper shields were in place on his mechanical arm.

"So I've heard. Who're we facing off against?"

Bao-Dur jerked his head in the direction of two lone ninjas, standing side by side. One of them wore a simple tunic of gray and off-white. Her hair was long and carefully groomed, and was being played with fondly as she shifted her perfect hourglass figure from foot to foot, obviously anxious.

The other seemed to be doing all sorts of different things at once. He scratched his nose, sniffed the air, shifted his weight, burped, coughed, sneezed, blinked, and stretched simultaneously. His clothes seemed to be he same as all of the other Jounin in the village, complete with the chuunin vest, only his entire outfit was black. His hair was spiky and swept back, held in place by his forehead protector. He was expressionless, and his goggle-like sunglasses only concealed his emotions even more.Soon, several rows of chairs were set out by a group of chuunins, and the crowd began to disperse and organize into their seats. As Wedge sat down, he caught a glimpse of the arena.

"We're supposed to fight in that?" he whispered to Bao-Dur, "a circle in the dirt drawn with chalk?"

"I was just as surprised as you are, General." Bao-Dur replied in his equally hushed tone. "But I doubt this'll hold us back in any way."

Wedge was about to say something back before Tsunade's loud voice boomed across the training grounds.

"May the two candidates for the position of Jounin, Bao-Dur and Wedge Rodius, please stand and step forward!"

The two did so, and were greeted with a hushed muttering amongst the guests. Tsunade raised her hand and called for quiet.

"I will know announce the first match." Wedge fidgeted. When was the last time he felt nervous? Damn, at least a year. He had had no time to be nervous in his previous battles. "But first I will explain the judging system." She looked at the two candidates. "You will be judged by speed, strength, skill, and tactics. Since you obviously aren't ninja, chakra use will not be judged." Wedge felt an itch on his forehead. Sweat? Damn, this was getting troublesome. Why doesn't she hurry up?

"The first match will be between…"

Wedge gritted his teeth.

"Bao-Dur and Yamashiro Aoba!"

The crowd clapped politely as Bao-Dur stood up. He was about to walk past when Wedge grabbed his hand. He looked down to see Wedge's grinning face.

"Hey. Show 'em how we do things in the Outer Rim, alright? That's an order."

Bao-Dur smiled back, "Yes, General."

They stood facing each other, each on either side of the circle chalked in the ground. The circle was very large, the size of the Ebon Hawks diameter, and then some. The man in the black, Aoba, bowed his upper body slightly to Bao-Dur, looking up at him expectantly.

Bao-Dur was at a loss, and already too. He looked around to see Wedge, who simply shrugged. Bao-Dur bowed back, feeling foolish.

Thankfully, this seemed to satisfy the crowd, and Tsunade raised her hand once more.

"Fighters, ready!" She yelled. Bao-Dur placed his hand on a large tube-like object strapped to his belt. He smiled reassuringly. His secret weapon would blow them away.

Tsunade brought her hand down. "Fight!"

Aoba vanished. Immediately, Bao-Dur activated his specialized Mandalorian melee shield, feeling much more safe now that the dim light surrounded his body.

Aoba reappeared to Bao-Dur's left and sent his fist flying toward his chest. Bao-Dur parried and countered with a low roundhouse kick, which was easily jumped and forced Aoba to retreat a few steps. Taking the momentum, the Iridonian advanced, sending small jabbing punches toward his opponent who, in turn, caught and blocked each one. He vanished again, and Bao-Dur decided it best if he kept moving. He jumped back just as several kunai thudded into the ground where he was a split-second before. He jumped twice more, each time shiruken were dodged or blocked.

Bao-Dur had had enough with the warming up. He had packed a lot of weapons for this occasion, and he was anxious to use them. Out of his satchel he grabbed a flash grenade, and hurled in the direction he believed Aoba to be.

The flash was incredibly blinding. The only two people who weren't caught off-guard were Bao-Dur and Wedge, who had covered their eyes prior to the blast.

Aoba staggered, and came into view (his sunglasses being of no use against such a strong light). Bao-Dur took the chance to run and leap into a flying kick which sent the surprised Jounin staggering even more, but didn't knock him over. Bao-Dur followed through with punches and the occasional knee or elbow, some of which connected but a lot were blocked thanks to Aoba's warrior instinct. He managed to counter a few and recover at the same time, so the two were at equal footing once again.

Aoba now knew who he was dealing with. He couldn't afford to go easy on him lest he be beaten down and humiliated by an outsider. He decided to change tactics.

Bao-Dur had planted his feet and prepared himself for another volley of strikes and blows, but none had come. Bao-Dur looked over his arms which were held up in a defensive position to see Aoba, standing straight as a board, feet together, and hands clasped with his index fingers pointing straight up. He muttered something, and before Bao-Dur had time to react, a cloud of black crows filled the area, blocking Bao-Dur's vision. Startled, he swung his fist against the closest, and _poof!_ It disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke.

As Bao-Dur tried to regain his footing, he felt a sudden stinging pain in his ribs. He bent over, realizing he had been struck. Again, a pain jolted throughout his back. Desperate, he tried to disperse the crows that concealed Aoba's movements. Useless, every time he struck something he would be enveloped in pink smoke.

The situation was getting desperate. Everything Aoba did was concealed by those damned crows. Bao-Dur was completely open for attack. Withstanding a kick to the ribs, he reached for the belt strapped to his waist. Two could play at this game.

"_C'mon Bao-Dur, do something!" _Wedge sat at the edge of his seat, hands clenched. They had never faced enemies like these one-on-one. Things were getting dangerous, and Wedge knew it. If something didn't happen soon…

But his prayers were answered. In a single moment, the crows dispersed, revealing a confused Aoba. And that was all, just Aoba, standing there looking around like a lost child. Wedge tried to hide his slight grin.

"_Bao-Dur, you clever dog."_

Aoba was struck under the chin. Hard. He doubled over as another fist contacted with his stomach. He looked up to find…nothing. His head jolted as he was punched on the side of his face, his sunglasses flying into the dirt. His brown eyes danced wildly as he felt a hand grip the collar of his shirt. Trying to focus, he saw Bao-Dur, only he wasn't there. More precisely, parts of him began to show themselves and then flicker away, at the same time. Finally, the Bao-Dur jigsaw puzzle began to piece itself together, showing Bao-Dur with a balled up metallic fist. His face grim, he lifted Aoba and, focusing all of his energy into his mechanical arm, he slammed his fist into his chest, dispersing all of his shield energy into him at the same time.

Aoba flew threw the air, hitting the dirt and skidding to a stop. Bao-Dur stood where he was, stooped over, like a drunkard, one eye closed and panting heavily. He held a bleeding wound on his side, but smiled nonetheless, and staggered over to where Aoba lay. If he had timed everything correctly, the shield energy he discharged into Aoba should have paralyzed him, if only for a few minutes. Aoba lifted his head up, grimacing as he did so.

"I…have lost…I cannot move…"

Bao-Dur tried to smile. "It was a good fight," He grunted as he tried to stand up straight, "you landed quite few good blows on me, too."

The referee made his way into the circle and took a quick glance at the two combatants. He looked at Tsunade and nodded.

"Aoba is no longer able to fight. The winner is Bao-Dur!"

The sound of murmurs and whispering filled the air like a plague of locusts. Ignoring this, Bao-Dur gratefully swallowed a pill that a ninja dressed in white gave him and, standing a little straighter, made his way back to his seat.

"Nice work. How's the wound?"

Bao-Dur tried to open his eye to look at his friend, but turned his head instead.

"It's getting better. They specialize in these things." He swallowed another pill.

"Looks like we underestimated them pretty bad," said Wedge as he eyed the sizeable bloodstain on Bao-Dur's shirt. "I didn't expect a flock of crows to come out of nowhere."

"Yes, well," Bao-Dur wiped a bit of blood from his face, courtesy of a kunai that flew a little too close, "he wasn't expecting a stealth-field generator to be used, was he?"

"That was a cheap thing to do, you know."

"All's fair in love and war, General." Bao-Dur jerked his head in the direction of Tsunade. "Look sharp. You're next."

"If the judges are ready, the next match will begin. Wedge Rodius and Hyuuga Hiyoko, please step forward!"

The crowd once again burst into murmurs (something Bao-Dur and Wedge were quickly learning to hate). Wedge and his opponent, the voluptuous young woman he had been ogling before, stood at either end of the circle and bowed.

"Fight!"

Wedge dropped into a fighting stance and charged. He had been training non-stop in Echani hand-to-hand combat, and he couldn't wait to show off the fruits of his labors. He sent a fist flying toward Hiyoko's chest. She sidestepped and countered with a knee, taking advantage of Wedge's low position. Wedge, being the cocky Jedi he was, smiled and sent his other hand to block the knee's path to his stomach, in the meantime grabbing and pushing, throwing the Hyuuga off-balance. He stood upright and planted his feet, preparing for a short fistfight.

Instead of this, as he expected, Hiyoko sped forward, below Wedge's guard, and came back up to meet Wedge face-to-face, there eyes only inches apart.

Wedge didn't move. He couldn't move. What was a face that he had looked upon with a sort of fascination was now…he couldn't find the words to explain it. It wasn't a monstrosity, far from it. It was just so unexpected. Her eyes were strained with black lines in the iris, and the entire eye-level portion of her face was covered with thick veins. Her eyebrows were pointed dramatically downward in a furious expression, and her lips were pursed. She wasn't ugly, no, in fact, she was slightly intriguing. Not in an attracting way, but sort of how a man could be seduced by a Twi'lek dancer and not explain why. Not that Wedge would know, of course.

In his fascination, Hiyoko took the opportunity to test his reflexes. She tried to lightly hit him in the chest, but, acting upon instinct, Wedge moved his guard and blocked expertly. He managed to move back a few steps, creating some space. She smiled.

"You've never fought a Hyuuga before, have you?"

"Baby, I've fought Aqualish, Quarrens, Twi'leks, Weiss, and Wookies. You're nothing special." He brought his fists back up.

She rushed forward with great speed, stopping and high kicking at Wedge's head. He blocked with his forearm and sent his own kick at Hiyoko's other leg, trying to send her sprawling on the ground. She jumped backwards, landing on her hands and feet, crouching. Using the momentum, she sprang into the air, blocking the sun in front of Wedge. She held a handful of kunai between her fingers.

Remembering Bao-Dur's battle, Wedge jumped to the side and rolled in a loose circle, dodging kunai as they hit the ground. Hiyoko hit the ground running.

"_Damn, she just won't let up."_ Wedge thought as he tried to regain his footing. At every turn it seemed to be the same. He would be trying to plant his feet while she effortlessly charged him with a new attack. She held the advantage and she knew it. He had to create some even footing.

He grabbed at a few kunai which stuck out of the ground and yanked them out. Hiyoko closed the gap and once again started to send her hands flying here and there. Dodging, Wedge flung a few kunai at her using his wrist. He wasn't exactly professionally trained, so they were easily dodged (too easily, as Tsunade had to use her clipboard to block a stray one headed for her face). Using his last resort, he adjusted his grip on the kunai and sent an outside punch toward Hiyoko's face. Again, she dodged, or at least, she thought she did.

She stumbled backwards. That was the first time she had seen Wedge's kunai, the very tip covered in blood. She reached up and gently felt the shallow cut on her cheekbone. Wedge smiled. The timing couldn't have been any better. His feet planted and his fists back up, he readied himself for another fistfight. He just couldn't drop his cocky smile.

But he did, for Hiyoko had moved so quickly, he had to think back on it after the fight to remember what had happened. At the time however, all he saw was a blur speeding toward him, and then stars. She had jammed something into his gut, and hard. Whatever it was, she withdrew it, spun it around and hit him in the face. Then a well-placed round-house kick sent him flying into the dirt a few yards back.

He opened his eyes, ignoring the flashes, and propped himself up on his elbows. The first thing he saw was Hiyoko's perfect legs. Then, ignoring them, he looked up even further to see the entire thing, standing where she had kicked him, with a steel staff in one hand and the kunai he had struck her with in the other. Her face was the embodiment of anger.

"You know, you shouldn't take these things so personally." Wedge said, picking himself up and brushing himself off.

"You cut me."

"Naturally."

She held the staff in an even more threatening manner, something Wedge had thought impossible. "I won't forgive you."

Wedge knew things were getting serious. He remembered how beat up Bao-Dur had gotten, and if it hadn't been for a bit of quick thinking, he could have been dead. Wedge couldn't afford to not think quickly.

Without saying a word, Wedge planted his feet once again, facing her from the side. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Seeing an opening, Hiyoko rushed in, her staff set to strike him and kill if necessary. She began to close the gap. Closer….closer…she raised the staff even further and yelled.

But that was as far as she got. Wedge opened his eyes, and thrust his hand forward. It never connected flesh, but even the same, Hiyoko was sent flying backwards. She hit a tree and slumped to rest at the trunk. She looked up through her grimace to see Wedge, walking toward her.

"What…was that?"

Wedge stopped in the middle of the ring. "Force power number six: Force push. Basic stuff. Now come on, I know you're not done yet."

She stood up, ignoring the pain in her back, and pulled out two scrolls from her satchel. Kneeling down, she unrolled them on the ground, clasped her hands together in a seal, and yelled something Wedge couldn't understand. Pink smoke filled the general area, and Wedge readied himself, expecting a flock of crows or something.

Instead, as the smoke cleared, all he saw was Hiyoko, standing perfectly straight, with one foot behind the other. Only in her hands were two large serrated swords, one red, one blue, both encrusted with jewels and the hilts expertly carved out of gold.

"I see." Said Wedge. "So even now I gotta turn it up a bit, eh? Fine then." He dropped into his usual fighting stance, only his right hand had gone down to rest beside his belt. "Come on!"

Hiyoko charged with a yell, raising her swords and rushing at full speed. She reached Wedge and sent her swords flying at him ferociously. Wedge dodged each one, but only barely. As he shifted to the side of one particularly close strike, he looked to his side to see a bit of his hair flutter away in the wind.

Hiyoko swung again and again, all with the same results, until she rushed in and shouldered Wedge off-balance, forcing him to lean back. She had him! She brought both blades down simultaneously. She could finally get rid of this nuisance!

The blades came down and the moment they stopped, her vision was blinded by a flash of silvery green light. Her ears were filled with a sound similar to a cross between metal being draw against metal and searing flesh. After that short moment was over, she felt her self being pushed back and onto one knee.

She looked up to see Wedge, his red robs flapping in the wind, his left arm resting at his side, his feet planted shoulder-to-part, and in his right hand a long beam of light, about three feet long, both silver and green, being emitted from a plain, metallic hilt with no guard.

All of the crowd had gone silent. Even the birds and cicadas stopped their chirping to gaze upon Wedge's light-saber. The only audible sound was the unending hum of his sword (and a small sigh from Bao-Dur, as he regretted Wedge stealing the spotlight once again).

"Lady…" Said Wedge as he gripped his lightsaber with both hands, "youpicked the wrong guy to have a sword fight with."

Hiyoko stood, and the moment she held her swords ready, they were met with blinding light and deafening sound. Wedge valued his lightsaber skills above all other aspects of combat, and it showed. Again and again he struck, forcing Hiyoko back further and further, barely giving her enough time to set her guard only so he could break it again. His strength and speed never relented, and after she had gotten ready to block, he shot his foot out, hitting her in the shin and lightly pushing her over. She went sprawling backwards and hit the ground. She opened her eyes to see Wedge standing over her, lightsaber ready to strike.

"It's over, lady."

"The fight between Wedge Rodius and Hyuuga Hiyoko is over!"

The crowd sprang up, shouts of protest and resentment filled the air. Two of Konoha's best Jounin had been bested by a couple of outsiders! It was outrageous! How could I be? Tsunade raised her hand for quiet.

"The judges will now evaluate the two candidates for Jounin. You will be notified in the next two days. Everyone, thank you for coming, you are dismissed."

The shouts only sprang up once again.

"DISMISSED!"

They left.

Tsunade pulled Bao-Dur and Wedge aside as they tried to stagger out of the crowd. "You two. Come with me."

They followed her to a small group of people standing in a semi-circle amongst the nearby forest. Amongst them were Hiyoko and Aoba.

"Hey." Said Bao-Dur. "No hard feelings?"

"None." Said Aoba, who smiled. Wedge glanced at Hiyoko, who only looked away.

Tsunade pulled out her clipboard (which was scarred from Wedge's stray kunai), and unclipped a small, crumpled piece of paper. She held it up for all to see. "I just received this from a chuunin manning the Southern outpost."

On the paper was some hastily scrawled writing. Wedge could just barely make it out.

"Enemy moving. Ready defenses. Retreating.

-Captain Oe"

"He doesn't say who it is that approaches?" asked one of the older men in the crowd. He was tall and had long, combed black hair. His eyes were stern and he stood by Hiyoko. Wedge saw the resemblance.

"They had to retreat. Whoever it is, they don't waste time, and they mean business. They should be here by tomorrow, noon."

"That's not a lot of notice," said Aoba, "we might not be ready by then. And if we don't know who it is, that makes it even worse."

"Yes, I know all of this, but we need to ready our defenses regardless. For all we know, it could be some sort of false alarm. I hope it is." Tsunade turned to Aoba and Hiyoko. "I'm leaving it to you to notify every Jounin and Chuunin available. Tomorrow morning, I want all civilians and Genin taken to safety. Understood?"

Aoba and Hiyoko both saluted and jumped off, leaving Tsunade alone with the rest of the group.

"The rest of you, I called you here because you have the safest havens in all of Konohagakure. I have to ask that you let civilians inside during the attack, if there is one. Understood?"

The rest agreed, some reluctantly, and left. Finally, she turned to Wedge and Bao-Dur.

"I have to ask of this to you two as well. We may need your help in the defenses tomorrow."

Wedge and Bao-Dur looked at each other.

"Look this isn't easy for me…" said Tsunade as she rubbed her temples. She didn't know why, but talking to these two always made her head ache, even if Bao-Dur spoke politely.

"We know, and we'll help. It's the least we could do as thanks for letting us stay here." Bao-Dur offered. Wedge didn't really care, as long as he got a bed for the night and time to lick his wounds. He could've swore that more than a few ribs broken.

"Thank you." Said Tsunade, straightening herself up. "Now get some rest. You did fine in one-on-one combat, but all out battles are a completely different story."

"All-out battles?" said Wedge as he began to stagger away. "Lady, you have no idea…"


	6. Chapter 6

Wedge groaned. On the very fringes of consciousness, a patchwork of images flitted through his mind, each and every one very familiar. To him, this was not a good sign, for every dream of his past was only a visit to the darkest moments in his life. Tired and aching, he finally gave in to the encroaching blackness of sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Move in Green Squad 12, I want that formation broken!"

"Sir, Green Squad 12 is unresponsive, they're in a firefight."

"Tell them to disengage, we don't have time for that. Sergeant, have you located Major Bristol?"

"Yes, sir, he's on his way to the objective now, sir."

"Good, get us further in."

Wedge sat on the edge of his seat on the bridge of the _Deliverance_. Every console was being manned by noisy officers who read charts and relayed messages to his personal monitor. The clamoring noise was overlooked by a giant display of red, green, white and orange triangles making their way through the chaos of battle like something similar to amoebas sluggishly plowing through water. His attention was grabbed by a face filling the screen of his computer. He turned on the mike.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"General Rodius, explain your situation."

Wedge wanted to yell at his superior for asking for such a stupid thing. Instead he gave a thumbs up to a young woman who was pointing at the bottom right portion of the screen, where a group of orange triangles were forming a line. She barked an order into her mike and the triangles merged into an arrowhead formation, charging and scattering an advancing enemy squad slightly in the flank. Wedge smiled as the group, fully intact, went on to help an outnumbered white squad.

"Ma'am, we have engaged the enemy in orbit around Malachor V. Just as intelligence said, there is a huge Mandalorian force here, possibly over half of their entire fleet. We need reinforcements from another sector."

"The Mandalorians must be stopped here, General. Don't forget it." The face disappeared from his screen, much to his relief.

"Sir, please! White Squads 2 and 5 are requesting orders!"

He looked at the giant mess of shapes and colors and spotted the said teams. Thinking quickly, he told his subordinate to send them both to the nearest enemy control fleet, avoiding any needless fights along the way. Very close, since the moment they left their area it was overrun by Basilisk droids. He sighed again, wondering if Sector Admiral Mentassi would lose him this battle with stupid requests like "What is your situation?".

The Mandalorians, the fearsome enemy they were facing, had been on an extremely well-organized and deadly rampage throughout Republic space for a long time virtually unopposed. A warrior race, they looked very much like humans, but they valued warfare and military tradition over all else. The cry for mercy and the crunch of bone was music to their ears.

The invaded Republic space with a huge force, vastly spread out and organized. They struck many worlds in the Outer Rim, burning and killing everything and anything. Millions wound up dead.

The Republic, still rebuilding after the Exar Kun war, mobilized and pleaded with their allies for help. All responded, except for the Jedi Order, the Republic's ace in the hole. Wedge had been recently accepted as a full-fledged Jedi Knight, surpassing his classmates and being one of the youngest to achieve knighthood. Furious with the Order for denying the Republic aid, he stormed out of the enclave with a group of comrades, determined to drive back the threat. He was put under the order of two other maverick Jedi and the best knights in the galaxy: Reven and Malak.

Under them, Wedge was able to prove his skills in battle and was given a position as a commanding officer at his first battle on Dxun, the moon of the Madalorian occupied planet Onderon. In battles to follow, he would keep his subordinates alive and defeat enemy fleets to climb the hierarchal ladder of the military.

As General, he found himself sitting in front of a giant miasma of colors, with officers asking for direction left and right as he desperately tried to keep up, any mistake could mean thousands dead and all hope lost. To think that he actually wanted the job!

A large mass of green began to crawl onto the screen from the right, and dissipated into even more triangles.

"Republic Sector Fleet 6, requesting orders," crackled a voice in his earpiece. "This is Colonol Zut speaking."

"Good timing, Colonel Zut. Send three squads to reinforce White Squad 7's position, then unleash hell on these damned skirmishers that keep intercepting my ships!"

"Yes, sir, way to cut to the chase, sir." Wedge smiled. Colonol Zut was one of the most experienced officers in known space. A compliment from him was like getting a medal.

"Alright," Wedge turned his attention to his crew. "We have room to move, now. Send direct orders to knock out those comm. towers on the cruisers and to do their best to stay alive in the process. Go!"

The officers scurried to their mikes and such, giving Wedge some much-needed thinking time. In truth, he didn't like the way this battle was headed. The Mandalorians kept coming or just refused to die, and even with reinforcements, Wedge couldn't predict the conclusion to this battle. Well, he could, but he sure didn't like it.

Slowly, he dialed a comm. link to the _Goliath_, another ship with a cheesy name such as his. The weathered old face of Colonol Maxin appeared.

"Sir?"

"Please patch me to your technical specialist, Colonol."

"Yes, sir."

The screen went blank for a moment and his long-time buddy Bao-Dur appeared.

"General?"

Wedge had told him many times to call him "sir", but he never listened, and Wedge didn't feel like administering punishment on his old wartime friend.

"Lieutenant, is the device ready?"

"Yes, General, ready to go, but I really hope we don't have to use it."

"Me, too, Lieutenant, but things are going downhill and fast. Be on your toes."

"Thanks, General."

Bao-Dur disappeared.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Several hours later…_

Wedge slammed his fist against his armrest. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he saw the large red mass separate his fleet. It was over. His fleets, separated, were utterly useless without each other, and the Mandalorians simply had to send out ships to mop up.

"Get Zut and his fleet out of there, tell him to withdraw to the nearest friendly sector" Wedge told the nearest officer. Not that it'd matter, since there wouldn't be any friendly sectors left in the next two days. Bao-Dur appeared on his console.

"General, I think it's time."

Wedge wanted to scream, to let all of the frustration and disappointment out of his system, but he knew he couldn't. He still had a chance to save the galaxy, and at this point, he didn't give a damn about the cost.

Wedge stood up before pressing a button that linked him to the hanger. "Have my fighter readied in the next five minutes."

"Sir, are you out of your mind? The fight is over, going out there is suicide!"

"Get me a squad readied as well, and plot the fastest course to the _Goliath_."

"You _are_ crazy! That's on the other side of the Mandalorians!"

"Do it, lieutenant, or else I'll have you go with me!"

He was about to say something, but Wedge left before he had a chance. "Major Dirgus, you're in charge."

A young woman stood up. "Thank you, sir."

Wedge sprinted down the corridors to the hanger. As he raced, he felt his pocket for his keycard and clutched it. That keycard was the only thing that could activate the Mass Shadow Generator, the super-weapon that was placed in the lower deck of the _Goliath_. That was their salvation, the galaxy's salvation. He had to get there.

He ran through the open doors of the hanger, finding his and several other ships ready to take off. Ignoring the you-are-so-damn-stupid look that cheeky lieutenant gave him, he dove into his Jedi fighter, closed the cockpit and placed on his headgear. For a moment, he was enveloped in utter darkness, but he felt the ship move, and the controls of his small ship lit up.

His view screen filled his vision, and several faces appeared at the bottom right.

"Sir, this is Captain Ros. My squad is at the ready."

"Sir!" said the other little faces in unison.

"Good. This mission is simple, just stay with me and don't die. Back each other up if you need to, but don't get into any needless fights." He looked at the course he was to follow the lieutenant had uploaded to his ship. "Our course takes us past two, count 'em, two Mandalorian Cruisers, so that means a _lot_ of Basilisks. Leave your firing to your protocol droids and focus 80 of power equally to thrusters and shields. Stay close, and here we go…"

The magnetic track took them to the mouth of the hangar, and Wedge found himself in front of a gigantic mixture of explosions and laser fire, complete with a backdrop of an enormous Mandalorian fleet.

"Go!"

The thrusters went full blast and Wedge's squad shot out of the hangar and into open space.

"Get loose, avoid fire!"

That was pointless. Cruisers were equipped with thousands of outside turrets at the ready, and Wedge seemed to have to go past the very inconvenient spots of where they were densest. His droid gave a worried droning sound. He ignored it.

"We're going past the first ship. Just like training, guys, evasive maneuvers!"

Ros took care of his crew, Wedge thought. If they made it through this he would get a medal and a promotion.

"On your toes! Basilisks!"

A small group of Mandalorians had given chase. They shouldn't be problem, though, not against a group of fleeing Republic fighters. Basilisk droids, which carried one pilot each, were designed as planetary invasion devices, able to plunge through the atmosphere, withstand amazing temperatures, and make a breakneck turn within a few miles from the surface to bombard unsuspecting cities with laser fire. For speed, however, it was like trying to run through the Korriban tar pits. They had already lost them.

"We're getting close to the cruisers, now, Ros. Get ready."

Ros barked some orders to his squad, and then, following Wedge's lead, formed a tight arrow with Wedge in the middle near the front. The first turrets aimed and fired.

"Full throttle, Focus 60 energy to engines!"

The group was speeding headlong through heavy blaster fire. All around them turrets fired, giving a generous downpour of death. A ship on his left exploded and veered into the thick hull of the second Cruiser.

"This is hopeless! It's Suicide!"

"Keep it together, Jeen, this is war."

"I can't! I can't do this, I gotta get out of here!"

"You're not going anywhere, Jeen, stay in formation!"It was useless. The fighter behind Wedge turned and hit fire in the rear, his thrusters failing. His screaming was heard over the radio as he, too, hit the cruiser.

"Jeen!"

"Stay focused, we're almost out of here!"

It was true. The break in the gray revealed the rusty red of Republic ships, they had almost made it. They broke free of the enemy fleet and hurtled through open space toward the _Goliath_.

"We made it! We're home-free!" Shouted a woman's voice. "We're home-…shit."

An enormous amount of Basilisks came from above and intercepted them. They were directly in their way to the _Goliath. _

"Split up, go around! I'll meet you there!"

Wedge pushed forward and his ship wavered, then plunged into a nose dive. Fighting for control, he forced his fighter straight again once he had gone under the swarm of ships. Lasers flew down on him like deadly hail.

A laser hit his droid and his shields started to fail. He swore inwardly but pushed on, determined to make it through. He started his upward arc, spiraling through the last few ships and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just before having the wind knocked out of him when his ship was hit from behind.

His main thrusters were blown apart and his auxiliary engines kicked in at maximum. He eyeballed the distance between him and his destination, spotting the other squad members flying toward it. He could still make it!

"Dock in the upper levels, get to the bridge and fire up the hyper drive. Then give the command to retreat to other ships and get us out of here on my signal!"

"Yes, sir!"

Wedge turned on his personal comlink.

"Bao-Dur! Bao-Dur, are you there?"

"Yes, General, I'm nearly ready. "

"Good. Be quick about it, I'm coming in fast."

Wedge's ship was showing red all throughout the rear. The brakes were only operating at half-percent, so he aimed for the open hangar and hoped for the best.

He hurled through the opening and hit the floor with a deafening smash. He locked the brakes and his ship squealed in protest, flying through the hangar. It connected with the floor and sent sparks flying everywhere, while the dock lieutenant stared with his mouth open.

Finally it slowed to a stop, leaving a red hot trail of destruction in it's path. Carefully Wedge opened his eyes, and tried to push on the hatch. No good, the heat from the engines had welded his entire ship into a mass of colored metal.

Swearing, he tried kicking it. He couldn't draw his lightsaber in such a small area, unless he wanted to slice himself up by accident. He yelled as he pushed his hand forward, palm first, focusing every ounce of power he could into the Force technique.

The hatch flew off with a _ping_ and hit the floor some ten yards away. He jumped out and headed toward the armory, where Bao-Dur was stationed. His comlink crackled with a connection being opened.

"Sir, we're at the bridge. We'll be ready to go in a few."

Wedge didn't answer, he saved his breath for the running.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"General, hurry! We're losing ships out there!"

Wedge wanted to be happy for seeing his friend, but the situation couldn't wait.

"Just get to the Mass Shadow Generator and wait for my signal. Captain Ros has to give the command to the fleet before we can activate it."

"Yeah…about that."

Wedge put his hand on his earpiece when he heard Ross's voice. "What is it?"

"Comm. lines have been knocked out. We can only reach a little above half of our fleet. They're already gone, But there's still a lot of men out there."

"_What?!_ You've got to be kidding me!" Wedge was furious.

"Sir, the Mandalorians are mobilizing. They'll give chase soon."

Wedge was sweating. He slammed both fists against the activation console and shook. Desperately, he looked at Bao-Dur, his eyes pleading for advice.

"They have to be stopped, General."

"I…I can't do it now, that's our own men we'll be killing! The explosion will wipe out everything!"

Bao-Dur grabbed Wedge by the shoulder. "I know that! But those monsters are going to destroy everything if they aren't stopped, and this is our only chance to do just that. This is just as hard for me as it is for you, General, but it must be done!"

Wedge stopped shaking and stood straight. He looked at his activation key in his hand, then out the window at the battle. He could imagine the pilots fighting against countless enemies, against ridiculous odds, even his own ship, the _Deliverance,_ was out there, under the command of Major Dirgus. He could see her commanding troops from the captain's chair.

Then some other images flashed before his eyes, images of the past. He remembered his first battle at Dxun, how he saw Mandalorians slaughter helpless prisoners. At Onderon, how they killed by the millions, leaving the bodies in the streets to rot. He closed his eyes, willing the images away.

He yelled as he thrust the key into the console. It lit up and a tremendous whirring filled his ears. Everything went white.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wedge awoke to the sound of Konoha's alarms, drenched in a cold sweat.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey.**

**I really have no excuse for my irresponsible actions here. This delay, well most of it, is because I'm too lazy or the thought slipped my mind. I'll try to change that, so don't give up on me just yet!**

"Ouch!"

Wedge yelped. It wasn't one of his favorite habits, but it was something he was born with. If he was surprised, he would yelp.

But now wasn't the time to discuss embarrassing personal traits, as the surprise Wedge received was a shirukin grazing his elbow.

"Dammit…why couldn't these guys use blasters like any other thug? I can't deflect these!"

"Now's not the time to whine, General," Bao-Dur said as he ducked behind a tree trunk. "We have new orders."

"Yeah? Oh, swell, it's good to know Tsunade gives a damn about us." Wedge rose his lightsaber and brought it down, giving a kunai a clean slice down the middle. "Seeing as we're practically the only ones out this far."

But Bao-Dur wasn't listening to Wedge gripe. Instead he held his earpiece, nodding to whatever whoever one the line was saying. His facial expression didn't really help the situation either. Wedge braced himself for bad news.

Finally, Bao-Dur took his hand off of his earpiece.

"Bad news, General."

No kidding, Wedge thought.

"Team Gai got split up. Their locations and numbers have been confirmed, and three out of the original six are heading back to HQ."

"And the other three?"

"They can't make it back. They're in too deep."

"Like us, huh?" Wedge sighed.

"Actually, yes. We have to meet them somewhere and join up. Then wait further instructions. They should be somewhere East of here.."

Wedge winced as he heard four solid _thunks_ resound as his cover was pounded with more kunai.

"Yeah, that's great. Only now we're pinned down. For every one we take out, two more pop out of nowhere. They're worse than a gizga infestation."

"Well, just be glad we're not in real trouble." Bao-Dur said, turning around and searching through his satchel. "Just imagine if we didn't have _these._"

* * *

"Dammit! Where the hell are they? Hey, Neji, hurry up, will ya?" 

"Naruto-kun! Please let Neji concentrate!"

"Yes, I'm having enough trouble as it is." Neji, eyes already straining, gritted his teeth in frustration. "There's too much activity to pinpoint two people effectively. I need-"

Neji couldn't finish his thought. He was too distracted by the spectacle before him.

About 100 yards to his right, there was a bright flash, a bone rattling _da-koom!_, and five masked nin were sent flying over the trees, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

"Wha-What the hell-"

"Found them."

* * *

Bao-Dur coughed. That blast kicked up a lot of dust, which, Bao-Dur noted, was strange since they were in a forest. 

"You (cough) had those the entire time, and you use them (choke) _now_?"

"Thermal detonators aren't something you throw because you're in a bad situation, General, they're very dangerous. You use them as a trump card."

"Talkin' to me like I'm a kid." Wedge mumbled. One of the surviving bandit shinobi jumped through the cloud of dust, only to be force pushed into a tree. "There's an entire army out there ready and willing to tear us to shreds and he lectures me on the dangers of thermal detonators."

Bao-Dur wasn't listening. He dodged a shirukin and fired two blasts from his rifle in the direction they came from. He started to regret using the explosives, since he was firing blind. Well, he didn't have to, after all.

"General. We have to find the others."

"Maybe not."

"General, what…"

There was scream, then an enemy ninja flew threw the diminishing dust cloud and landed, unmoving, into the dirt between the two.

"Konoha Senpu!"

A grunt, and another nin landed on the one before. Wedge and Bao-Dur looked at each other before bolting in the direction the men flew from. They burst through the dust to find three teenage boys and a girl, who holding a knocked out bandit by the collar.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

They didn't question him.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, the six sat under the arching roots of a large tree, resting in their newfound cover. They had barely enough room to sit in tight circle and whisper among themselves. Wedge was first with the questions. 

"Okay first of all," said the Jedi, catching his breath, "why are there four of you? There's only supposed to be three."

The group looked at each others faces, and the girl on the far right raised her hand.

"I was on a reconnaissance mission," she began, "and was ambushed. These three found me and took me along."

Wedge frowned. The last thing he wanted right now was another head to look after.

"Well then," said Bao-Dur, "why don't we start with names, left to right."

"Rock Lee!" The first one practically shouted almost immediately. "Proud servant of Konoha! Chuunin!"

The boy, Lee, stuck his hand out to Wedge and Bao-Dur, thumb sticking straight up. They had no clue as to what he was trying to do so, awkwardly, Wedge took hold of Lee's thumbs up sign and lightly shook it, as if saying hello.

The other three stared incredulously, Lee simply beamed.

"_Ahem…"_ The boy next to Lee cleared his throat. Wedge retracted his hand immediately, praying the next ninja could dispel this awkward atmosphere.

"Hyuga Neji." The teen looked up at the two older men. "Jounin."

A Hyuga! Wedge could spot those eyes a mile away, but they sure didn't make him feel any better. Neither did the fact that Neji didn't break his gaze with the Jedi (as far as Wedge could tell, since those eyes had a distinct lack of pupils).

"Os!"

Wedge jumped, shaken from his train of thought, and nearly yelped again. He restrained himself and in doing so saved a considerable amount of dignity.

"You are…"

"Uzumaki Naruto! Nice ta meet ya, dattebayo!"

Bao-Dur rose an eyebrow. "Dattebayo?"

"Huh?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means…nothing really."

He let it drop. The last one, the girl started to speak.

"And I'm-"

"Sakura."

All eyes turned to Wedge. He simply shrugged.

"We've met before, when she was spying on Naruto over there."

Sakura stiffened. Naruto rose his eyebrows.

"Spying?"

"Uh…it wasn't…spying, really, it was…uh, _training_."

"That's not how I remember it." Said Wedge, crossing his arms across his chest. "You told me that-"

He couldn't finish, since Sakura had landed a punch directly on the top of his head.

"Urk!"

"Read the atmosphere, you idiot!"

* * *

"Has the other half of Team Gai been contacted?" 

"They have, Hokage-sama. Sakura-san has joined them."

"I see."

"They are awaiting further orders."

"Our intelligence of the enemy army is very low." Tsunade placed her elbows on the table inside her makeshift field HQ, interlacing her fingers and resting her chin on her hands. "Sakura and the others don't seem to be placed in the most hostile location, so tell them to scout out the enemy and report anything they find, be it mundane or out of the ordinary."

Shizune wrote a few sentences on her clipboard, then turned around and lifted the flap that served as the exit.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

* * *

Wedge had been in a lot of bad situations, but, ironically, he found that many of them did not compare to being grabbed by the collar of the robes and shaken by a teenage girl with superhuman strength. 

His ordeal was thankfully short-lived, as Bao-Dur's radio began to crackle to life. Sakura stopped throttling the limp Jedi to look expectantly as Bao-Dur reached up and opened the link. The voice that came through sounded only as a slight buzz to the rest of the group.

"Bao-Dur here. Yes. Yes. I understand. Very well, Bao-Dur out."

"What'd Oba-san tell you?"

"Oba…"

"Tsunade-sama." Sakura clarified, giving Naruto a cold stare. "What are her orders?"

Bao-Dur sighed. He was somewhat reluctant to pass over these orders to the group, especially to Wedge, since he knew he wouldn't be too happy with the news.

"We're supposed to…scout."

"What!"

To the Iridonian's surprise, Naruto was the one to shout. But Wedge refused to be outdone, it seemed.

"Scout? We're knee-deep in half-psychotic bandits who would love nothing more than to happily tear us limb from limb and she tells us to scout!?" Wedge nearly rose his voice at this, but the close-quarters and situation they were in kept him from shouting.

"Well, orders are orders," Neji said, about to get up (_Real helpful_, thought Wedge), "We should get moving anyway until we get further instruction."

"Yes!" Said Lee, leaping from the hiding place. "Let us _scout_ these forests for the sake Konoha!"

_Dear God, _thought the Jedi. _That exuberant way of thinking…is horrifying._

* * *

Reiji knew that challenging Konoha was no easy task. But he had always lived by the mantra of expect nothing, but be prepared for anything. 

And he was prepared alright. He had an entire army of bloodthirsty, skilled, but most important of all _mindless_ criminals to do his bidding. He had years upon years of experience to use, but that was merely seasoning compared to his trump card, his real weapon.

He opened the small, ornate chest that he had an orderly bring him, and took from it an object delicately wrapped in a fine, brown cloth. He untied the strings, carefully removed the seals, and finally, pulled off the fabric.

He now held in his hand a small scepter in the shape of a lizard-like dragon. The handle was the tail, long and pointed, until it reached the body and legs, where it bulged just a little bit. Finally, the head, with the mouth open revealing two lone fangs which held a long green finely cut jewel in place. The entire piece was silver, except for the eyes, which were made with gold that winked as the light played upon it.

Reiji held it up carefully, eyeing the craftsmanship. He didn't obtain this fine object for its worth (Reiji never bought anything, he simply took), he bought it for its purpose. The Bandit King held the scepter out toward Konoha's cityscape about half a mile away.

Yes, the purpose. To destroy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Yeah, I know. I made you wait. **

**And I suck for that, I know, I really do. I really am sorry.**

**Anyhow, I recieved a review that asked me why doesn't Wedge simply force storm everyone out of his way? Well, since I couldn't reply to an anon. review, here's the answer: **

**I plan on having Wedge save some of the really powerful force powers he knows as trump cards. Kind of like Naruto's Tajuu Kage Bunshin or Rasengan. Or even Sasuke's Chidori. **

**But here's my extremely delayed update. Again, I'm really sorry for the wait.  
**

"Beweep deep."

"What'd it say?"

"I don't even know what it _is,_ let alone what it's saying."

"Deet!"

"I think it got angry."

"You think?"

If robots could sigh, then that's what T3-M4 would be doing at that very moment. It was as if being put on cleaning duty with some kids wasn't bad enough, but it's own master stuck it with dealing with these two morons so he could communicate when he was out in the field. It could barely make it past the very appearance of this duo. As far as humanoids go, it had seen a lot of weird creatures, but these two, as humans, really went all-out.

The one on the left wore the standard forest-green vest and dark ninja outfit, but his hair was spiked and pointed, jutting out of his head in weird angles, while his ears were pierced in several rather unhealthy places. The other covered his/her visible body with thick bandages, as if he/she just escaped from a burning building with 5th-degree burns, and still lived. Even the ninja's voice seemed rather unisex.

Lowering it's headpiece, T3 ignored the two chuunin's stares and opened the comlink.

"_Hello? Hello? T3, you there? Hello, anybody!" _Wedge's voice emerged from T3's small stereo.

"Hey, that's the new guy!" said hair-spikes. "I remember him when his buddy fixed the surveillance computer."

"The two that beat Aoba-sempai and that Hyuuga?" said unisex, intrigued, "I heard those fights really knocked the elders out of their seats."

"_Hello! Dammit, hello! I know you're there somewhere! Hello!"_

"That one guy, the weird one with the horns," began ear-piercings (T3 recorded in his databanks that this one was a hypocrite), "I heard he blasted Aoba-san back twenty yards with some sort of jutsu. And he didn't even use a seal!"

"I also heard that." Replied bandage-face. "And the other one, Wedge, I think, wields this crazy light-sword."

"_I know you're there, I can hear you talking! Don't ignore me! We're under attack, dammit, answer me!"_

"Oh," Spike's face suddenly lit up, as if he just remembered that he left his teapot on the stove for too long. "right…"

His finger searched T3's headpiece for a moment before finding the blinking green button. He pressed it and placed his face close to T3.

"Hello? Wedge-sempai? Are you there?"

"_Of course I'm here you idiot!"_

* * *

"Isn't that what I've been yelling this entire time?!" 

A kunai whistled past not three inches from his ear. Startled, he scrambled lower down the slope he was on for cover. "I'm on my stomach with kunai rainin' on me, I have no idea where my teammates are, and I swear to god, if I don't see some backup, I'm going to personally tear that sorry face of yours right off!"

"_Sir? You said you were separated?"_

Wedge rolled on his stomach into some taller grass. He slithered behind a boulder and propped himself against it.

"That's right. We were told to scout and decided to split up into groups of two. I got separated from my teammate once we were attacked."

Wedge dislodged a kunai from a trunk nearby and half-heartedly flung it over his shoulder toward the unseen ninjas. Hoping for the best, he sprinted further down the slope. "Tell Tsunade that something's going on in the woods nearest the training area. And hurry!"

"_Y-Yes sir!"_

A shuriken scraped his cheek. Frightened, he dove and rolled once more, stopping in a small rocky grotto. The mission had gone beyond terrible. Separated, chased, outnumbered, and absolutely clueless as to what could be going on. He had to regain some sort of hold on the situation. He had to regroup.

* * *

"Eat this!" 

The man with the pierced ears staggered back, his lip bleeding. "Damn it, you brat, you asked for this!"

"Heh!" Naruto withdrew his bruised fist. "Bring it, old man, I'm ready."

The ninja roared and charged. Before he had covered ten yards his neck snapped back as a powerful kick connected with his jaw. Unconscious, he slumped to the ground.

"We have no time for this, Naruto. I got a transmission from Wedge-san."

"Neji! Mind your own business, dattebayo! That was my fight you stole from me!"

"Never mind that!" Neji pulled out his radio. "I received this transmission just two minutes ago. Wedge-san seems to have run into some trouble"

Holding up the radio, Neji turned the dial to the correct channel. Static filled the air as bits of the transmission came through.

"_This is Wedge. I seem to have met some trouble. If anyone gets this message, either report to Tsunade or get yourself to the woods near the training area, whatever's closer. If you choose the latter, be prepared. They are around twenty, maybe twenty-five well-trained shinobi here. This is Wedge. I seem to have…"_

"It keeps looping from there. He really seems to have gotten his hands full."

"The woods near the training area, huh? Do you think Sakura-chan or Fuzzy-Brows received the message?"

"They should have." Neji turned toward the village, just barely in sight, "they were in this general area, but behind us. They should have gone back by now."

"Well, then, let's get going!" Naruto leapt to a low-hanging branch. "If we don't hurry, Wedge-san might already have beaten everybody!"

Too swelled with excitement to think ahead, Naruto flew from branch to branch. Neji, just behind him, silently assessed the dilemma.

"_That outsider defeated Hiyoko-sempai." _Neji narrowed his clouded eyes in thought. "_If someone as skilled as he is in trouble in such a remote place, then what could these bandits be planning?"_

* * *

Reji had been sitting on the same branch for the past hour, holding up his prized trinket and admiring the way it caught the light and played with it. To most, the small silver dragon carving was simply a pretty bauble, something to be put on a shelf to gather dust. And that's exactly what it had been doing before Reji had stolen it. It was a good thing its previous owner hadn't known of the carving's true purpose. 

He smiled a bit as the small golden eyes seemed to wink at him. But his face quickly tensed into a scowl.

"Come now, Fujiyama-kun. You are my right-hand man, my lieutenant. You do not need permission to speak."

An enormous man appeared beside the Bandit King, shaking the entire branch with his weight. "My apologies, Tetsugawa-sama."

"So? You had something to say?"

"Er…yes." Fujiyama adjusted his rectangular shades, clearly uncomfortable. "All the preparations are complete, Tetsugawa-sama, but there seems to be a problem."

"Problem? I didn't expect any problems, Fujiyama-kun. What is it?"

"Two men have found the sight, Tetsugawa-sama." Fujiyama was again hesitant. He had to choose his words very carefully here. "They seem to have been separated, but the guards…the guards seem to be having…trouble."

"Spit it out, Fujiyama."

"(Ahem.) Well, simply put, the guards are being killed. Several teams have reported losses, and even separated, these two are ravaging the men you put there. But their movements have no real direction. In fact, it seems as if the two just circle around the sight, neither penetrating nor retreating. They simply seem…well, lost."

Reiji sat in silence for a short moment.

"Well, it can't be helped." He stood, clutching the scepter tightly. "They obviously called for backup by now. I will carry out the plan ahead of schedule."

Reiji grinned in anticipation. He could just barely imagine the kind of destruction he could bring about with his new weapon.

"Listen, Fujiyama-kun. I'm in a really good mood right now, and I don't want any nuisances dampening it. This may seem like overkill, but we can't have anything jeopardize our absolute victory, can we?"

Fujiyama stood as well. "Shall I send in your personal guard, then, Tetsugawa-sama?"

"No, Fujiyama-kun. I want you to go yourself." Reiji leapt from his branch to one some yards away before turning and giving Fujiyama a sideways glance.

"And remember, my loyal lieutenant. Should you fail," Fujiyama stiffened, afraid of the next words.

"I will kill you."

Reiji disappeared into the foliage.

* * *

Wedge's light saber easily sliced through the kunai as if it were warm butter. The ninja, shocked, staggered back and stared at the useless lump of metal in his hand. A foot to the chest put an end to his wonderment, and Wedge turned to face the other three. 

"You're a nuisance! All of you!"

The three sprinted to surround Wedge, then turned and closed in. Two wielded kunai, while the third held a long katana. None of them showed any sign of fear or hesitation, only a stern glare that could penetrate steel.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

Wedge thrust both hands straight out to the sides, summoning the Force to his aid. His opponents took the hit directly, falling back and sliding in the dirt.

One of them, however, threw his kunai at Wedge in mid-air.

"_Damn…" _Wedge thought as the kunai came closer to his face.He began to dodge, but his body moved like a snail compared to the weapon. "_To think it'll end like this."_

The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the forest, and two kunai hit the dirt.

"Sorry we're late, Wedge-san!"

"Took your time, did you, Naruto? Where's your teammate?"

Neji dropped from the trees, landing squarely on the stomach of one of the prone ninjas. Naruto administered a kick to the head of the one nearest him, and Wedge took pleasure in dispatching the last one, the one who threw the kunai.

Panting slightly, Wedge turned to address his teammates with a growing smile on his face.

"Alright!" Wedge grinned. "Now we can get to business! I took it that Sakura and Lee went back, then?"

"Yes, Wedge-san." Neji held up his radio. "Your message was received by all of us. Reinforcements should arrive soon."

"Good, good. But first we find my friend." Wedge turned to the sound of blaster fire in the distance. "And I think I know where to start."

* * *

"Ugh…" 

The ninja slumped to his knees, raising a hand to the scorched mark on his chest.

"What…?"

He fell forward, his face hitting the dirt.

"Sorry, whoever you were. But I can't take any chances"

Bao-Dur lowered his repeating blaster rifle. As much as he loved his customized weapons, he never did grasp the thrill of killing. Not like Mandalore back in the Outer Rim.

Resourceful as ever, Bao-Dur had taken his time to try and achieve some information. And what better place to get information than from someone who knows it? He had questioned several shinobi, most of which said nothing, but what he did find out was that their leader had something big planned in this area.

And he learned the name Reiji Tetsugawa. The said leader, he presumed.

Without further ado, he ran in the direction the dead ninja had come, swatting branches and purposely making as much noise as possible. If there certainly was something big here, than there would be people guarding it closely. So if he attracted enough attention…

A shiruken slashed its way through the leaves and skirted off of Bao-Dur's power shield. The Iridonian swung his weapon around and sniped a bandit out of a nearby tree. Without pausing, he headed off in the direction the shinobi had come.

But even his Mandalore melee shield couldn't withstand a powerful chop to the neck.

"Uhh…" Bao-Dur's knees buckled under the shock. Before he hit the ground he was grabbed by the shirt and slammed into a tree.

"So you're one of the insects that are running about, hm?"

Bao-Dur forced his eyes open to stare at a huge man, even larger than any Mandalorian, with a scarred face and rectangular shades.

"Who…who might you…be?" He choked.

Fujiyama smiled, knowing for certain that his chop had hit dead on. The Iridonian's voice gave away that he would be paralyzed for a little while at least.

"Who I am isn't what's important. What's important is where you're friend is."

"Even…if I knew…I wouldn't…tell you."

"Oh? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway. Tetsugawa-sama is about to complete the jutsu." Fujiyama turned and began walking, dragging Bao-Dur along behind him. "Perhaps you should watch. It will put the fear of the Bandit King within you, I think."

* * *

After a some minutes of walking (and dragging), Fujiyama and his captive reached a large clearing. Within that was a large circular chalk design, with five points distributed evenly along its edge. At each point was a ninja, each with their eyes closed, and each forming seals as fast as an eye can blink. 

"They've been at it for an hour, now." Said Fujiyama.

The five ninja stopped moving suddenly, and, opening their eyes, backed away from the circle.

The earth began to shift and tremble, and finally the center of the circle swelled and broke as a large square block of earth rose from the ground. A slender man leapt to the top of the platform, and took something from his belt.

Speaking softly, he uttered a few words that Bao-Dur could barely hear.

"So long, so long, but it's finally here." Reiji spoke as if he were a child, excited about a new toy or some such thing.

Giggling with glee, the bandit king rose his scepter directly skywards. The long green gem within its sculpted mouth began to shimmer, then a small fire seemed to ignite within it, and is started to glow, casting an ethereal light upon clearing.

Slowly, he lowered the scepter and pointed it directly at Konohagakure. Bao-Dur widened his eyes

"_Is he going to…!"_

The Iridonian struggled, fighting to just move his arm an inch, but it was no use. At the moment, he was helpless.

The crystal grew brighter and brighter, intensifying more and more until…

* * *

"HK, is something wrong?" 

Shizune had grown used to speaking to the metal giant, especially since he had been assigned as a personal guard to the Hokage's temporary HQ.

"Statement: It seems that more than we can know is occurring in those woods, female meatbag." It shifted its stance so that to was facing in the woods beyond the training area. "Ever since those two young meatbags returned with such news, I fear my master might be in danger. If only I still had my blaster…"

"Him. Yes, I see what you mean."

Shizune stared into the woods as well. "It seems as if something big is about to happen, don't you think?"


	9. Chapter 9

"With this, Konohagakure is no more."

Bao-Dur shifted his eyes to his large captor who had just uttered those words. Even though Fujiyama's eyes were well hidden behind his dark rectangular shades, the Iridonian could see the obvious look of admiration as the large ninja watched at his leader. Bao-Dur followed his gaze until his eyes fell upon Tetsugawa Reiji, leader of the enemy army and self-proclaimed Bandit King. Reiji was, at that moment, overcome with joy and cackling madly as his scepter continued to grow and vibrate. Bao-Dur had to do something, and fast.

And he had a pretty good idea what.

Careful to move slowly and smoothly, Bao-Dur, on his knees beside Fujiyama, moved his mechanical arm toward his belt.

Grasping the handle of his backup weapon, his eyes shifted from Fujiyama to Reiji, to Reiji's guards, and back to Fujiyama. He had to time it perfectly.

* * *

Wedge landed on the branch in a crouch and motioned the others to do the same. Naruto and Neji landed beside him, both crouching, and both wearing the same stern expression.

"Look."

The green light shown through the trees, playing off of the leaves and illuminating the dark forest. The rays hit the large trunks and cast strange shadows, eerily placing dark shapes where they shouldn't be.

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Wedge stood straight. "But whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's move. I got a feeling we're about to get to the bottom of this whole affair."

With that, they continued their course to the mysterious light with renewed fervor.

* * *

Just as Fujiyama let loose a whoop of delight, just as the guards began to cheer for their leader, just as the scepter in Reiji's outstretched hand seemed to explode with the blinding light, Bao-Dur gripped the handle of his small one-shot blaster pistol in his belt and pulled, aiming directly at the Bandit King.

And fired.

Blaster pistols were never praised for their remarkable aim, especially the smaller, single-shot models, but credit must be given when it is due, and it is safe to say that Bao-Dur really knew his way around blasters.

The laser exploded from the small snub-nosed barrel of his pistol and traveled right, missing the Reiji's body, and instead colliding fully against the forearm holding the scepter.

Reiji howled in pain and instinctly flexed his arm, forgetting at that moment of the superweapon he held in his hand. His eyes reopened, and grew wide.

"No!"

Desperate, he tried to aim at the cityscape once more, but it was too late. Before he could point at Konahagakure, the superweapon activated. An enormous beam of bright green light erupted from the mouth of the small sculpted dragon and hurtled toward the village.

* * *

Tsunade was speaking to her aide, Shizune, about the position of the enemy general. Nearly the entire bandit army had been engaged and routed, but their leader was nowhere to be seen. Deep in discussion, Tsunade suddenly stopped talking, and instead stared, dumbfounded into the distance.

"Tsunade-sama? Hello, Tsunade-sa-"

The beam of light burst through the trees, setting some leaves alight on it's way to it's target. Tsunade could only stare as it just missed the upper wall, seared off the upper portion of the Hokage Tower, and finally smashed into the Hokage monument with an ear-shattering roar.

It had all taken place in less than a second, and Tsunade's legs nearly buckled at what had just occurred.

Or, more precisely, at what _could've_ occurred.

She ignored Shizune's baffled cries as she took in the scene before her. Where the beam had connected with the Hokage Tower, there was nothing. It seemed as though something had cut a semi-circle into the top floors, and nothing remained except for the charred wood around the edges.

And as for the monument…

All that was left were the faces of the Sandaime and the Yondaime. Where the visages of the first two hokages had been was nothing but a hole. Steam poured out of it as the overheated rock sizzled and cracked.

Tsunade felt like fainting.

* * *

Reiji couldn't speak. His guards couldn't speak. Fujiyama couldn't speak. The only person who wasn't speechless was Bao-Dur.

"That's funny." The Iridonian said without thinking, as he examined the spent blaster pistol in his hand. "I thought I fixed the aim on this thing ages ago."

Reiji was on him in an instant, launching him into a tree with a powerful kick.

"My work! My life! Ruined!"

Reiji again disappeared and reappeared before Bao-Dur, who was just now beginning to stand again. The insane bandit gripped the collar of his shirt and drove his fist into Bao-Dur's face with a menacing left hook.

"You…! You…!"

After two more hits to the face, Reiji kneed Bao-Dur in the stomach, and stood back as the Iridonian sank to his knees, gasping for breath. Reiji still held the same expression of shock and horror, his eyes agape and his teeth clenched tightly, the veins in his forehead and neck throbbing. His soldiers didn't move.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a crazed grin as he pulled a kunai from his belt. "I couldn't have my revenge on Konoha," he twirled the kunai by the hole in the handle and then grasped it, the tip pointing down. "So I'll take my revenge on you instead!"

As Reiji advanced on Bao-Dur, a kunai with a piece of paper attached embedded itself within the ground but a yard behind the Bandit King. Bao-Dur recognized it from the times he watched the younger ninja practice in the training grounds and, using what little energy he had left, hurled himself to the right and toward safety.

The explosion threw dust and leaves everywhere. Reiji's subordinates shook themselves out of their stupors and whirled their heads around, looking for the attackers. Bao-Dur rolled and grabbed his blaster, which lied among the dead leaves, forgotten. He tried to stand, but his knees buckled, and just before he hit the ground, he felt something grab him by the arms and pull him back up.

"Oi! You alright? Speak, dattebayo!"

He had heard that voice before. "Naruto…is it?…What brings you here?"

"Just here to get rid of some bothersome pests. You okay, there, buddy?"

Wedge helped prop up Bao-Dur, smiling. Not that Wedge would ever admit it, but seeing his old friend safe meant the world to him. Bao-Dur smiled back.

"The others…are they alright?"

"They should be. They went back for reinforcements." The teen in white that stood beside the other two had spoken up, and Bao-Dur recognized him as Neji.

"Oh. Good."

Bao-Dur regained his foothold and stood straight. "Well then, we should get started." He cocked his rifle.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Wedge ignited his light saber and faced the bandits, while Naruto took out a kunai and Neji fell into his stance.

"That really sounds like a good idea."

* * *

Kakashi's radio crackled. He opened the channel.

"Repeat that?"

"_I SAID GET TO THE FOREST OUTSIDE THE TRAINING GROUNDS! NOW!"_

In the background, the jounin could hear Shizune's worried voice, sounding small compare the infuriated Hokage, urging Tsunade to calm down.

He sighed as he closed the channel and motioned his teams forward. Time to see what all this was about.

* * *

The scene around the Hokage's temporary HQ was, essentially, utter chaos. People ran here and there, grabbing reports or weapons, and in the center of all the hoo-hah was Tsunade, screaming and yelling and raising hell.

"_I WANT ALL TEAMS IN THAT FOREST! NO HOLDS BARRED! I WANT THAT BANDIT GENERAL BROUGHT BEFORE ME WITH HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND HIS BACK AND I WANT HIM TO BEG FOR MERCY! GET OUT THERE! GET GOING!"_

Standing tall among the hubbub was the great mechanical giant, HK-47. Unsure of what to do, it simply stood there and looked at all the pathetic meatbags and their hopelessness in life, scurrying about like that.

It was when it was immersed in these revelations that Shizune approached it.

"HK? Hello?"

"Salutation: Hm? Oh, greetings young female meatbag. I was in the process of watching the pitiful existence of your comrades."

"Huh…right…" Shizune couldn't help the awkward silence that followed such a statement. "Anyway, you know how we were all given the order to move out?"

"Answer: yes, I heard it several times. Loudly."

"Well, that includes you, so…"

Since she was standing behind, he couldn't quite see what she was holding out to him. But if droids could breathe, his breath would hitch once he caught sight of what she was offering him.

"Statement: My…my blaster…"

"Well, you wouldn't do much good without it, now, would you?"

Without further delay, the droid grasped it by the handle and returned it to its rightful place: nestled comfortably in the droid's grasp, ready to fire at anything that moved.

"Declaration: Young meatbag, you have opened my visual sensors to the kinder side of humans. Maybe…maybe your existence is not a pitiful one after all…"

With that, it turned and began running toward the forest before turning once more. Several onlookers turned watch the spectacle.

"Declaration: I will not fail you, kind female meatbag! I will destroy all enemies with as much pain as can be inflicted! Protocol Droid HK-47 will not forget this favor!"

Finally, it turned one last time and sprinted toward the forest. Shizune could only awkwardly smile, unsure of how to take such a compliment. She also couldn't help but notice the spring in the droid's step upon being reunited with its beloved blaster.

"Yeah…ok…"

Tsunade's yelling brought her back to the present, and she rejoined the others in the frantic scramble for order.

* * *

**A/N: So, here's the latest chapter. I know it's moving pretty slow, but most of it is due to lack of motivation.**

**Come on, people. I probably sound a little selfish here, but I barely got any reviews for the last chapter, and so I had a little trouble starting this one. **

**But I'll give credit to where it's due, and I gotta say thanks to Crow T Robot and Dragon Man 180, the only two that reviewed my last chappie.**


	10. Chapter 10

SOS X

As soon as the men from Konoha moved forward, Reiji's personal guard appeared, blades flashing as they were drawn from their sheaths and holsters. In the blink of an eye, Neji was upon them, hands flashing as they dove into the flesh of his opponents, blocking chakra points. Naruto and the others took the opportunity to rush at Reiji. Naruto looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Neji, take care of them for us!"

"Why do I have to take orders from a Genin?" Yelled Neji indignantly, as he parried a short sword with his open hand. The men that had fallen under his onslaught were recovering extremely quickly. It appeared that Reiji had picked his guard well.

Meanwhile, Fujiyama, Reiji's lieutenant, had cut off Naruto's charge for his leader, but couldn't stop Bao-Dur and Wedge from slipping past. Fujiyama, intent on giving chase, raised one of his massive arms and blocked a kick aimed at his neck. Naruto planted his foot on his opponent's arm and leapt off, throwing his drawn kunai as he did so. Fujiyama easily caught it in his hand, and turned to give the smaller ninja his full attention. Reiji could deal with those other two. In the meantime, he could make himself useful by eliminating this nuisance.

Bao-Dur, setting his blaster on semi-auto, raised his weapon and fired off a few rounds at Reiji. Still remembering the sting of blaster fire from being hit in the arm, he decided to dodge instead of take the hits and strike back. Jumping into the air and over Bao-Dur's attack, he landed in front of Wedge, who tried to bring his lightsaber low to attack Reiji's legs. Before he could do that, however, Reiji had already lightly kicked Wedge's sword arm, stopping his attack and throwing him off balance. Just as he drew a kunai, Bao-Dur was behind him, mechanical arm raised. The punch connected with Reiji's ribcage, forcing him to stagger a few steps to the side and away from Wedge. The Jedi was up once again, thrusting his palm forward and hitting Reiji in the right shoulder with an effective Force push, throwing him to the side and he continued to stagger farther back. Without missing a beat, Bao-Dur tossed a flash grenade at his feet and covered his eyes.

But Reiji wasn't the only one to be affected by the flash. Neji, while battling the five men who made up Reiji's personal guard, watched his comrades' battles through his bloodline technique, the Byakugan. Having watched the Jounin exams closely, he recognized the flash grenade for what it was, and shielded himself while his opponents took the effects full force. Stunned, they had no way of protecting themselves against Neji's renewed attack.

As for Naruto, the moment that the grenade went off, he had dodged a swipe from Fujiyama and was hit by the flash in mid-air. Shocked, he landed in the dirt with a loud _thud._ Fujiyama, while equally confused as to what just happened, took the opportunity to grab Naruto by the collar and throw him into a tree, snapping the trunk. Finally being shaken out of his confusion by the throw, Naruto launched himself at Fujiyama's face once again, fist at the ready, only to strike at nothing once more. Landing perfectly this time, he turned around and formed a seal.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _

Soon, Fujiyama found himself surrounded by orange-clad ninjas, all of which wielded drawn kunai.

The three in front of him immediately started their attack, two throwing their kunai toward Fujiyama's face while the last charged toward his gut. He dodged one of the kunai and grabbed the other, stepping forward to grab the ninja under him and slam his knee into his chest, making him vanish in a puff of smoke. He made an underhanded toss behind him to block an incoming blade with his stolen knife, and rolled out of the way of several punches and kicks that could've caused quite a but of damage. Coming out of his roll, he found himself immediately surrounded once again and grunted in frustration. He formed a seal of his own.

"_Doton Doryuuheki!"_

The ground shook, and an earthen wall burst from below, causing a few bunshins to be taken by surprise and being struck by it before it curved up and over Fujiyama and slamming back into the earth, affectively sealing him inside a great stone sphere.

Naruto gathered the few clones he still had and waited, surrounding the temporary fortress with kunai drawn, ready for anything.

A muffled voice cried out, "_Doton Tsuiga no Jutsu!"_

The half-sphere crumbled and something shot out, striking the clone beside Naruto, who yelled before _poof_ing out of existence. The dust settled, revealing Fujiyama, who was now flanked by two extremely tall and fully armored statues. The one to his right held the bow that had shot Naruto' clone, while the other wielded a long spear, whose blade was made with a pitch-black obsidian.

"You've proven yourself worthy enough to face one of my greatest techniques," Fujiyama said with pride. "Behold my earth summons, the Stone Sentinels."

* * *

Reiji stumbled away from the two fighters, breathing heavily.

"You aren't ninja, I can see that." He wheezed. His left arm was bleeding heavily from Wedge's saber, and his side ached from Bao-Dur's punch earlier. He was sure that a few ribs had been fractured.

Wedge and Bao-Dur advanced, weapons at the ready. "Give it up." Said Wedge. "Your army's gone, and you're at the end of your rope as well. There's nothing left for you to fight for."

"No, you certainly aren't ninja," Reiji said again, almost sadly. "If you were, you would know that there is _always_ something to fight for!"

He attacked with renewed fervor.

* * *

"Jyuken!"

The ninja who was hit by the technique stumbled backwards for a little before stopping. He examined his now useless arm curiously, before rushing back into battle. Neji was about to put him out of the fight for good before two other ninjas threw shiruken from the side. On instinct, Neji ducked while the two projectiles sailed harmlessly overhead, and the advancing ninja's knee caught him painfully under the chin, throwing him off of his feet.

The Hyuuga was up in an instant, and his enemies were around him the moment he was upright. Neji was in trouble, and he knew it. Even with his Byakugan, he had trouble reading the incoming attacks, so much so that he had stopped paying attention to any outside surroundings in order to focus on the fight. And their devotion to their master didn't help Neji's situation any either. Even though a few had limbs hanging uselessly at their sides, made helpless by Neji's Jyuken, they still kept coming, without hesitation or fear. They were prepared to die for their master, and that's what set them apart from Reiji's other men.

That, and Reiji's personal guard, even though comprised of several men, worked as a single entity. It was as if their minds were one, and each member knew what the other was thinking, making them extremely dangerous.

Neji knew that he had wasted enough time underestimating his opponent. He dropped back into his stance, head low, ready to perform one of his ultimate jutsus.

"_Hakke…"_

The bandit ninjas, eager to put Neji down, rushed forward.

"_Shou…"_

Blades were drawn and brought downward, intent on silencing Neji before he could finish his incantation.

"_Kaiten!"_

Neji's entire body turned at an extreme speed, with chakra bursting out of him as he spun. The guards were hit at full-force and were thrown back. Even before the nearest one had hit the ground, Neji ended his technique and was upon him, glaring with his blank, white eyes.

"_Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" _He yelled as he pinpointed the sixty-four major chakra points on the man's body, and jabbed at them with deadly force. The ninja hit the ground and rolled, unable to move any limbs in order to stop himself.

Without their teammate, the rest of Reiji's personal guard was finally at a disadvantage. If Reiji's elite soldiers acted as a single entity, then Neji had cut off that entity's arm by putting one of the members out of commission.

Neji turned to regard the rest of his enemies, who were just shaking themselves out of being thrown about twenty feet without warning. Neji smiled. All he had to do now was mop up.

* * *

Naruto found himself alone, facing two living statues and an overconfident Fujiyama. In less than a minute, the other two clones that he had left were taken out by Fujiyama's summons, both of which had barely moved.

"I'll make you regret facing off with me, brat." Fujiyama said with a deep-throated laugh. "Unfortunately for you, your actions have gone past the point of forgiveness. You will bother me no more!"

The statue wielding the spear lunged forward with seemingly impossible speed, his lifeless eyes staring at the target without emotion. The spear was brought up, pointing directly at Naruto's chest, and was shot forward. It met the earth as Naruto disappeared and reappeared above, his hands once again clasped together.

"_Kage Bunsh-_wah!"

An arrow made from gray stone had grazed his shoulder, causing a long but shallow wound. The stone archer had the bow aimed directly at him. He used his other hand to reach down toward the ground, and the earth below him twisted and formed itself into a perfectly sharp arrow. It shot upwards and into his waiting hand. With this technique, the sculpted archer had a virtually limitless amount of ammunition.

But Naruto had little time to worry about that. The spearman had launched himself off of a tree and was speeding toward him, spear outstretched. Gritting his teeth, he summoned another clone which took the hit, and disappeared. The spear, now in a more relaxed position after striking a target, was easily kicked out of the spearman's grip by Naruto. Not finished yet, Naruto reached out and grabbed the unarmed statue, pulling them towards each other and grabbing the other arm.

Plummeting downward, Naruto heaved his enemy around and below him. They hit the ground with a smash, and Naruto jumped free.

As he landed several feet away, he could hear heavy footfalls behind him. He turned to see the statue, now missing a head and its left arm from the crash, rushing blindly at him. He sidestepped the wild charge, and the statue slowed down, taking a few unsteady, final steps before the legs snapped, and it shattered into a heap of rubble.

Acting within a second, Naruto whipped out a kunai and swung his entire body around, blocking an arrow before it buried itself in his chest. Fujiyama stood behind his stone summon, a stern look upon his face.

"It's not everyday that I find an opponent strong enough to defeat one of my guardians."

Naruto snorted. "Not so cocky now, are you? That pile of rock you sent after me wasn't so tough."

Fujiyama showed no emotion. "I'd like to say that I underestimated you, but it seems your still just some brat."

Naruto was about to respond, but felt a solid and painful grip on his ankle. He looked down to see a large hand sticking out of the ground, grasping his leg. Soon, a head and shoulders became visible. It was Fujiyama.

Naruto quickly looked back to the man he was speaking to, who smiled and vanished in a cloud of pink smoke. Naruto had been duped.

The real Fujiyama smiled as well. "Cocky? That's rich, coming from you._Tekken-fu no Jutsu !"_

The man's entire body burst from the ground, sending bits of rock flying everywhere. He raised his fist, which, thanks to his jutsu, now looked as if it were made from solid, shining steel. He struck, and hit Naruto directly in the face.

Or, at least he thought he did. About a second after contact, Naruto's body exploded in a cloud of white smoke, revealing itself to be a dummy made from dead leaves. He had switched himself with a decoy at the last second.

Naruto reappeared several yards behind Fujiyama, and with him came five more clones, who charged at Fujiyama's open back. The archer pinpointed one, and let an arrow fly. That was one down.

Fujiyama grabbed another by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the ground. He pulled his steel fist back and struck the other with brutal ferocity. Pink smoke was raised everywhere, and from within, three shiruken flew out. Fujiyama leaned backwards to avoid the blades, but directly behind the siruken was another clone, who landed on Fujiyama and held him to the ground. Above him jumped the other two.

In their hands was a glowing blue ball of chakra with a red core. The archer drew back his bow once again and hit one of the Narutos from about five yards away. But Fujiyama wasn't their target, and even without his clone, Naruto could still sustain his Rasengan long enough until impact. With two more steps, he lunged forward and drove it into the archer's chest. The statue all but exploded, raining sculpted bits and pieces everywhere.

Fujiyama threw the clone off of him and ran screaming at Naruto. He threw another punch, which Naruto sidestepped and pushed away from him. He sent a punch of his own toward Fujiyama's chest, which did almost nothing but make him emit a small grunt. Naruto reached behind him to draw another kunai, but found that he was out of ammo. Fuijyama kicked him back, swiping at him. His hand connected, and Naruto was thrown off of his feet.

A figure shot threw the trees and drove an elbow into Fuijyama's back. Using the same force from the attack, the newcomer flipped up and over the larger man to land in between him and Naruto. Rock Lee had arrived with reinforcements.

"Fuzzy-brows!"

"Naruto-kun! Please leave this to me!"

Yelling, Lee charged in, throwing jab after jab at Fujiyama. Through each attack, Fujiyama attempted to find an opening to counter at, but nothing was revealed. He tried to throw some punches to break Lee's rhythm, but he simply jumped over them to deliver some kicks to his head.

On his way down, Fujiyama threw a hell-bent punch toward Lee's middle. Although he brought his hands down to catch the punch, Lee still felt a tremendous impact, and was thrown several feet. He flipped and landed as if nothing had happened and sprinted in once again.

A well-placed kick put a sizeable dent in Fujiyama's steel arm, and another kick from his other leg connected with his head. His glasses were knocked away and skirted across the forest floor. Fujiyama's great bulk leaned back until he fell, unconscious.

* * *

Wedge summoned the Force to his hands, feeling the electricity build up within him before releasing it toward Reiji with a loud _crack!_ The lightning bolt was dodged and splintered an old dead log some yards away. Reiji sprinted toward Wedge, who ducked a kick and stabbed at Reiji's shoulder, scoring a shallow wound on his arm.

Wedge jumped back and was replaced with Bao-Dur, who let a punch be blocked by his melee shielding, and then threw one of his own. Reiji took it in the chest, and, wheezing, he had to take a step back and fell on one knee. Wounded, tired, and bleeding, Reiji placed a hand on his aching chest, but refused to meet Wedge and Bao-Dur with his eyes.

"Why…won't you kill me?"

"We don't believe in killing someone if taking them alive is an option." Wedge replied.

"Than you are fools. I come from a world where no prisoners are taken, no life is spared, and if two people go to battle, than only one comes out. Or even none."

Reiji tried to stand, but Bao-Dur placed his boot on his chest and pushed, throwing him on his back. Reiji grunted in pain.

"We aren't in you world anymore, Reiji, so you play by our rules now. We can keep this up as long as you want, but you'll be coming with us sooner or later."

Reiji rolled over in the leaves. His fingers brushed against something hard and cold, something metallic. He grasped it as if it were the only thing keeping him alive at the moment.

"Treating me like some pushover…me, the bandit king…"

For a long moment, while Reiji ached for breath and tried to get on all fours, Wedge put away his lightsaber. He advanced on Reiji, sure that they had won.

"It is something…" Reiji whispered

Wedge reached down, about to grasp Reiji by the shoulder.

"That cannot be forgiven!"

Reiji whipped his hand back, the silver scepter of the dragon gleaming in his grip. The long, green jewel in the dragon's fangs slashed across Wedge's face, spraying blood over the forest floor. Wedge fell back, holding his bleeding face in his hands, completely confused by Reiji's sudden attack while Bao-Dur was forward in an instant, kicking the scepter from Reiji's hands, and then, with the same foot, stomped once on his chest. Reiji screamed, and then whimpered, muttering incoherently in his pathetic state.

"Why…why did this happen…I was the bandit king…invincible…all I wanted…all I wanted…"

Bao-Dur grimaced in disgust, and ended Reiji's miserable chanting with a kick to the forehead. Reiji finally lay still. The Iridonian turned around to help his friend.

"General!"

"Ah…" Wedge hissed in pain. "Ah…not too bad. He missed my eyes. Oh…oh man, this hurts."

"Reiji's out of commission." Bao-Dur placed a hand on Wedge's shoulder and looked down around his hunched form to see his face. "You're bleeding pretty badly, General. We've got to get you some help."

"No, really, I'm okay. Head wounds bleed a lot." Wedge stood straight and tried to wipe some blood away from the narrow wound that ran over the bridge of his nose. He smiled a little. "Looks like we won."

"Yes, looks like it."

A short silence fell on the duo as they looked at Reiji laying in the leaves, but the silence was short lived as blaster fire erupted from the trees. Wedge, acting on reflex, ignited his lightsaber and deflected each shot. Bao-Dur had hit the ground, also acting on a reflex developed in his army days.

A large, orange helmet poked out of the foliage. "Statement: Master! So that was you, terribly sorry, I thought there were some more enemy meatbags to eliminate." He pronounced the word "enemy" with an amused, condescending tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Wedge said, his heart thumping in his chest from the sudden excitement.

"Statement: Oh, I just find the whole concept of enemies in meatbag society so amusing. As if one actually _needs_ a reason to kill another!" HK-47 emerged completely from the leaves and low branches. "But I am so excited to see master and his meatbag companion in one piece!"

Bao-Dur got back up and dusted himself off. "How long were you hiding there?" he asked skeptically.

"Avoidance: Hiding? Please, sir, protocol droids do not _hide_." HK strode over to Reiji's form and, picking the unconscious man up, hoisted him over his shoulder. "Statement: Still breathing? How disappointing, you two continue to lower my expectations. But in any case, the loud female meatbag with the large bust has asked me to inform you that the enemy force has been defeated. It is safe to make it back to the meatbag settlement."

"Good, we need to get both Wedge and Reiji some medical attention, and fast." Bao-Dur said as he watched Wedge lean to and fro from blood loss. "Are there any medics around here?"

"Statement: All ninja have already cleared this sector of the forest, Iridonian meatbag. You were the only two not to report in, so I was sent to search for your bodies…I mean, to search for you, alive, of course."

"Whatever." Bao-Dur said with an exasperated sigh. He walked over to Wedge and supported him with one shoulder. "Let's get out of here.

"Statement: Of course."

They turned their back on the battlefield and left it in sort of serene silence. Above them, the birds began to sing once again.


End file.
